THE  AMERICAN    NATION 
A  HISTORY 

FROM  ORIGINAL  SOURCES   BY  ASSOCIATED  SCHOLARS 
EDITED  BY 

ALBERT  BUSHNELL  HART,  LL.D. 

PROFESSOR  OF  HISTORY   IN   HARVARD   UNIVERSITY 

ADVISED  BY 
VARIOUS  HISTORICAL  SOCIETIES 

IN  28  VOLUMES 
VOL.  4 


Unrv.  Library,  UC  Santa  Cruz  1999 


THE    AMERICAN    NATION 
A   HISTORY 


LIST  OF  AUTHORS  AND  TITLES 

GROUP  I. 
FOUNDATIONS  OP  THE  NATION 

Vol.  i  European  Background  of  American 
History,  by  Edward  Potts  Chey- 
ney,  A.M.,  Prof.  Hist.  Univ.  of  Pa. 

44  a  Basis  of  American  History,  by 
Livingston  Farrand,  M.D.,  Prof. 
Anthropology  Columbia  Univ. 

"  3  Spain  in  America,  by  Edward  Gay- 
lord  Bourne,  Ph.D.,  Prof.  Hist. 
Yale  Univ. 

44  4  England  in  America,  by  Lyon  Gar- 
diner Tyler,  LL.D.,  President 
William  and  Mary  College. 

14  5  Colonial  Self  -  Government,  by 
Charles  McLean  Andrews,  Ph.D., 
Prof.  Hist.  Bryn  Mawr  Coll. 

GROUP  II. 
TRANSFORMATION  INTO  A  NATION 

Vol.  6  Colonial  Commonwealths,  by 
Evarts  Boutell  Greene,  Ph.D., 
Prof.  Hist.  Illinois  State  Univ. 
44  7  France  in  America,  by  Reuben 
Gold  Thwaites,  LL.D.,  Sec.  Wis- 
consin Hist.  Soc. 


Vol.  8  Preliminaries  of  the  Revolution, 
by  George  Elliott  Howard,  Ph.D., 
Prof.  Hist.  Univ.  of  Chicago. 
"  9  The  American  Revolution,  by 
Claude Halstead  Van  Tyne, Ph.D., 
Asst.  Prof.  Hist.  Univ.  of  Michi- 
gan. 

1  10  The  Federal  Constitution,  by  An- 
drew Cunningham  McLaughlin, 
A.M.,  Director  Bureau  Hist.  Re- 
search Carnegie  Institution. 

GROUP  III. 
DEVELOPMENT  OP  THE   NATION 

Vol.  ii  The  Federalist  System,  by  An- 
drew Cunningham  McLaughlin, 
A.M.,  Director  Bureau  Hist.  Re- 
search Carnegie  Institution. 

"  12  The  Jeffersonian  System,  by  Ed- 
ward Channing,  Ph.D.,  Prof.  Hist. 
Harvard  Univ. 

"  13  Rise  of  American  Nationality,  by 
Kendric  Charles  Babcock,  Ph.D., 
Pres.  Univ.  of  Arizona. 

41  14  Rise  of  the  New  West,  by  Fred- 
erick Jackson  Turner,  Ph.D., 
Prof.  Hist.  Univ.  of  Wisconsin. 

"  15  Jacksonian  Democracy,  by  Will- 
iam Mac  Don  aid,  LL.D.,  Prof. 
Hist.  Brown  Univ. 

GROUP  IV. 
TRIAL  OF  NATIONALITY 

Vol.  1 6  Slavery  and  Abolition,  by  Albert 
Bushnell  Hart,  LL.D.,  Prof.  Hist. 
Harvard  Univ. 


Vol.  17  Westward  Extension,  by  George 
Pierce  Garrison,  Ph.D.,  Prof. 
Hist.  Univ.  of  Texas. 

"  1 8  Parties  and  Slavery,  by  Theodore 
Clarke  Smith,  Ph.D.,  Prof.  Am. 
Hist.  Williams  College. 

"  19  Causes  of  the  Civil  War,  by  Ad- 
miral French  Ensor  Chadwick, 
U.S.N. 

"  20  The  Appeal  to  Arms,  by  James 
Kendall  Hosmer,  LL.D.,  Libra- 
rian Minneapolis  Pub.  Library. 

"  21  Outcome  of  the  Civil  War,  by 
James  Kendall  Hosmer, LL.D., Li- 
brarian Minneapolis  Pub.  Library. 

GROUP  V. 

NATIONAL  EXPANSION 
Vol.  22  Reconstruction,  Political  and  Eco- 
nomic, by  William  Archibald  Dun- 
ning, Ph.D.,  Prof.  Hist,  and  Politi- 
cal Philosophy  Columbia  Univ. 

"  23  National  Development,  by  Charles 
Herbert  Levermore,  Ph.D.,  Pres. 
Adelphi  College. 

"  24  National  Problems,  by  Worthing- 
ton  Chauncey  Ford,  Chief  of  Di- 
vision of  MSS.  Lib.  of  Cong. 

"  25  America  the  World  Power,  by 
John  H.  Latane,  Ph.D.,  Prof. 
Hist.  Washington  and  Lee  Univ. 

"  26  Ideals  of  American  Government, 
by  Albert  Bushnell  Hart,  LL.D., 
Prof.  Hist.  Harvard  Univ. 

"  27  Index  to  the  Series,  by  David 
May  dole  Matteson,  A.M.,  Harvard 
College  Library. 

"    28  Atlas  to  the  Series. 


COMMITTEES  APPOINTED  TO  ADVISE  AND 
CONSULT  WITH  THE  EDITOR 


THE  MASSACHUSETTS  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Charles  Francis  Adams,  LL.D.,  President 
Samuel  A.  Green,  M.D.,  Vice-President 
James  Ford  Rhodes,  LL.D.,  ad  Vice-President 
Edward  Channing,  Ph.D.,  Prof.  History,  Harvard 

Univ. 
Worthington  C.  Ford,  Chief  of  Division  of  MSS. 

Library  of  Congress 

THE  WISCONSIN  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Reuben  G.  Thwaites,  LL.D.,  Secretary 

Frederick  J.  Turner,  Ph.D.,  Prof.  Hist.  Univ.  of 

Wisconsin 

James  D.  Butler,  LL.D. 
William  W.  Wright,  LL.D. 
Hon.  Henry  E.  Legler 

THE  VIRGINIA  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Captain  William  Gordon  McCabe,  Litt.D.,  Pres- 
ident 

Lyon  G.  Tyler,  LL.D.,  Pres.  William  and  Mary 
College 

Judge  David  C.  Richardson 

J.  A.  C.  Chandler,  Professor  Richmond  College 

Edward  Wilson  James 

THE  TEXAS  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Judge  John  Henninger  Reagan,  President 

George  P.  Garrison,  Ph.D.,  Prof.  Hist.  Univ.  of 

Texas 

Judge  C.  W.  Raines 
Judge  Zachary  T.  Fullmore 


SIR    WALTER    RALEIGH 


THE  AMERICAN  NATION  :  A  HISTORY 

VOLUME  4 

ENGLAND    IN    AMERICA 

1580-1652 


BY 

LYON  GARDINER  TYLER,  LL.D. 

PRESIDENT   OF   WILLIAM   AND   MARY   COLLBGX 


WITH  MAPS 


NEW   YORK  AND  LONDON 

HARPER   &   BROTHERS    PUBLISHERS 

1904 


Copyright,  1904,  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS. 

All  rights  reserved. 
Published  November,  1904. 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION xiii 

AUTHOR'S  PREFACE xix 

i.        GENESIS    OF    ENGLISH    COLONIZATION    (1492- 

1579) 3 

ii.      GILBERT  AND  RALEIGH  COLONIES  (1583-1602)  18 

in.     FOUNDING  OF  VIRGINIA  (1602-1608)  ....  34 

iv.      GLOOM  IN  VIRGINIA  (1608-1617) 55 

v.       TRANSITION  OF  VIRGINIA  (1617-1640)     ...  76 
vi.      SOCIAL  AND  ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS  OF  VIRGINIA 

(1634-1652) 100 

vn.    FOUNDING  OF  MARYLAND  (1632-1650)    .     .     .  118 

vui.  CONTENTIONS  IN  MARYLAND  (1633-1652)     .     .  134 

ix.      FOUNDING  OF  PLYMOUTH  (1608-1630)     .     .     .  149 

x.       DEVELOPMENT  OF  NEW  PLYMOUTH  (1621-1643)  163 

xi.      GENESIS  OF  MASSACHUSETTS  (1628-1630)     .     .  183 

xii.    FOUNDING  OF  MASSACHUSETTS   (1630-1642)     .  196 
xin.  RELIGION  AND  GOVERNMENT  IN  MASSACHUSETTS 

(1631-1638) 210 

xiv.   NARRAGANSETT     AND     CONNECTICUT     SETTLE- 
MENTS (1635-1637) 229 

xv.     FOUNDING  OF  CONNECTICUT  AND  NEW  HAVEN 

(1637-1652) 251 


xi  CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGB 

xvi.      NEW  HAMPSHIRE  AND  MAINE  (1653-1658)     .  266 

xvn.    COLONIAL     NEIGHBORS     (1643-1652)     .     .     .  282 
xvin.  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  CONFEDERATION   (1643- 

1654) 297 

xix.     EARLY   NEW  ENGLAND   LIFE   (1624-1652)     .  318 

xx.      CRITICAL  ESSAY  ON  AUTHORITIES      ....  328 

INDEX 341 


MAPS 
ROANOKE  ISLAND,  JAMESTOWN,  AND  ST.  MARY'S 

(1584-1632)  (in  colors) facing    34 

CHART   OF    VIRGINIA,   SHOWING    INDIAN    AND 
EARLY    ENGLISH    SETTLEMENTS    IN    1632 

(in  colors) 76 

VIRGINIA  IN  1652 99 

MARYLAND  IN  1652 133 

NEW  ENGLAND  (1652)  (in  colors) facing  196 

MAINE  IN  1652 265 

NEW  SWEDEN  AND  NEW  NETHERLAND 296 


EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

SOME  space  has  already  been  given  in  this  series 
to  the  English  and  their  relation  to  the  New 
World,  especially  the  latter  half  of  Cheyney's  Euro- 
pean Background  of  American  History,  which  deals 
with  the  religious,  social,  and  political  institutions 
which  the  English  colonists  brought  with  them ;  and 
chapter  v.  of  Bourne's  Spain  in  America,  describing 
the  Cabot  voyages.  This  volume  begins  a  detailed 
story  of  the  English  settlement,  and  its  title  indicates 
the  conception  of  the  author  that  during  the  first 
half -century  the  American  colonies  were  simply 
outlying  portions  of  the  English  nation,  but  that 
owing  to  disturbances  culminating  in  civil  war  they 
had  the  opportunity  to  develop  on  lines  not  suggested 
by  the  home  government. 

The  first  two  chapters  deal  with  the  Unsuccess- 
ful attempts  to  plant  English  colonies,  especially 
by  Gilbert  and  Raleigh.  These  beginnings  are 
important  because  they  proved  the  difficulty  of 
planting  colonies  through  individual  enterprise. 
At  the  same  time  the  author  brings  out  clearly 
the  various  motives  for  colonization — the  spirit  of 
adventure,  the  desire  to  enjoy  a  new  life,  and  the 

xiii 


xiv  EDITOR'S   INTRODUCTION 

intent  to  harm  the  commerce  of  the  colonies  of 
Spain. 

In  chapters  iii.  to  vi.  the  author  describes  the 
final  founding  of  the  first  successful  colony,  Virginia, 
and  emphasizes  four  notable  characteristics  of  that 
movement.  The  first  is  the  creation  of  colonizing 
companies  (a  part  of  the  movement  described  in  its 
more  general  features  by  Cheyney  in  his  chapters 
vii.  and  viii.).  The  second  is  the  great  waste  of 
money  and  the  awful  sacrifice  of  human  life  caused 
by  the  failure  of  the  colonizers  to  adapt  themselves 
to  the  conditions  of  life  in  America.  That  the  peo- 
ple of  Virginia  should  be  fed  on  grain  brought  from 
England,  should  build  their  houses  in  a  swamp, 
should  spend  their  feeble  energies  in  military  exe- 
cutions of  one  another  is  an  unhappy  story  made 
none  the  pleasanter  by  the  knowledge  that  the  found- 
ers of  the  company  in  England  were  spending  freely 
of  their  substance  and  their  effort  on  the  colony. 
The  third  element  in  the  growth  of  Virginia  is  the 
introduction  of  the  staple  crop,  always  in  demand, 
and  adapted  to  the  soil  of  Virginia.  Tobacco,  after 
1616,  speedily  became  the  main  interest  of  Virginia, 
and  without  tobacco  it  must  have  gone  down.  A 
fourth  characteristic  is  the  early  evidence  of  an 
unconquerable  desire  for  self-government,  brought 
out  in  the  movements  of  the  first  assembly  of  1619 
and  the  later  colonial  government:  here  we  have 
the  germ  of  the  later  American  system  of  govern- 
ment. 


EDITOR'S   INTRODUCTION  xv 

The  founding  of  the  neighboring  colony  of  Mary- 
land (chapters  vii.  and  viii.)  marks  the  first  of  the 
proprietary  colonies ;  it  followed  by  twenty-five  years 
and  had  the  advantage  of  the  unhappy  experience 
of  Virginia  and  of  very  capable  management.  The 
author  shows  how  little  Maryland  deserves  the 
name  of  a  Catholic  colony,  and  he  develops  the 
Kent  Island  episode,  the  first  serious  boundary  con- 
troversy between  two  English  commonwealths  in 
America. 

To  the  two  earliest  New  England  colonies  are  de- 
voted five  chapters  (ix.  to  xiii.),  which  are  treated 
not  as  a  separate  episode  but  as  part  of  the  general 
spirit  of  colonization.  Especial  attention  is  paid  to 
the  development  of  popular  government  in  Massa- 
chusetts, where  the  relation  between  governor,  coun- 
cil, and  freemen  had  an  opportunity  to  work  itself 
out.  Through  the  transfer  of  the  charter  to  New 
England,  America  had  its  first  experience  of  a  plan- 
tation with  a  written  constitution  for  internal  af- 
fairs. The  fathers  of  the  Puritan  republics  are 
further  relieved  of  the  halo  which  generations  of 
venerating  descendants  have  bestowed  upon  them, 
and  appear  as  human  characters.  Though  engaging 
in  a  great  and  difficult  task,  and  while  solving  many 
problems,  they  nevertheless  denied  their  own  fun- 
damental precept  of  the  right  of  a  man  to  worship 
God  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience. 

Chapters  xiv.  to  xvi.  describe  the  foundation  of 
the  little  settlements  in  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island, 


xvi  EDITOR'S   INTRODUCTION 

New  Haven,  New  Hampshire,  and  Maine;  and  here 
we  have  an  interesting  picture  of  little  towns  for  a 
time  standing  quite  independent,  and  gradually 
consolidating  into  commonwealths,  or  coalescing 
with  more  powerful  neighbors.  Then  follow  (chap- 
ters xvii.  and  xviii.)  the  international  and  inter- 
colonial relations  of  the  colonies,  and  especially  the 
New  England  Confederation,  the  first  form  of  Amer- 
ican federal  government. 

A  brief  sketch  of  the  conditions  of  social  life  in 
New  England  (chapter  xix.)  brings  out  the  strong 
commercial  spirit  of  the  people  as  well  as  their  in- 
tense religious  life  and  the  narrowness  of  their  social 
and  intellectual  status.  The  bibliographical  essay 
is  necessarily  a  selection  from  the  great  literature  of 
early  English  colonization,  but  is  a  conspectus  of  the 
most  important  secondary  works  and  collections  of 
sources. 

The  aim  of  the  volume  is  to  show  the  reasons  for 
as  well  as  the  progress  of  English  colonization. 
Hence  for  the  illustration  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  has 
been  chosen,  as  the  most  conspicuous  colonizer  of 
his  time.  The  freshness  of  the  story  is  in  its  clear 
exposition  of  the  terrible  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
founding  self-sustaining  colonies  —  the  unfamiliar 
soil  and  climate,  Indian  enemies,  internal  dissen- 
sions, interference  by  the  English  government,  vague 
and  conflicting  territorial  grants.  Yet  out  of  these 
difficulties,  in  forty-five  years  of  actual  settlement, 
two  southern  and  six  or  seven  northern  communities 


EDITOR'S    INTRODUCTION  xvii 

were  permanently  established,  in  the  face  of  the  op- 
position and  rivalry  of  Spain,  France,  and  Holland. 
For  this  task  the  editor  has  thought  that  President 
Tyler  is  especially  qualified,  as  an  author  whose  de- 
scent and  historical  interest  connect  him  both  with 
the  northern  and  the  southern  groups  of  settle- 
ments. 


VOL.    IV  — 2 


AUTHOR'S   PREFACE 

THIS  book  covers  a  period  of  a  little  more  than 
three-quarters  of  a  century.  It  begins  with 
the  first  attempt  at  English  colonization  in  America, 
in  1576,  and  ends  with  the  year  1652,  when  the 
supremacy  of  Parliament  was  recognized  throughout 
the  English  colonies.  The  original  motive  of  colo- 
nization is  found  in  English  rivalry  with  the  Spanish 
power;  and  the  first  chapter  of  this  work  tells  how 
this  motive  influenced  Gilbert  and  Raleigh  in  their 
endeavors  to  plant  colonies  in  Newfoundland  and 
North  Carolina.  Though  unfortunate  in  perma- 
nent result,  these  expeditions  familiarized  the  peo- 
ple of  England  with  the  country  of  Virginia  —  a 
name  given  by  Queen  Elizabeth  to  all  the  region 
from  Canada  to  Florida — and  stimulated  the  suc- 
cessful settlement  at  Jamestown  in  the  early  part 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  With  the  charter  of 
1609  Virginia  was  severed  from  North  Virginia,  to 
which  Captain  Smith  soon  gave  the  name  of  "  New 
England";  and  the  story  thereafter  is  of  two 
streams  of  English  emigration — one  to  Virginia  and 
the  other  to  New  England.  Thence  arose  the  South- 
ern and  Northern  colonies  of  English  America, 

xix 


xx  AUTHOR'S    PREFACE 

which,  more  than  a  century  beyond  the  period  of 
this  book,  united  to  form  the  great  republic  of  the 
United  States. 

The  most  interesting  period  in  the  history  of  any 
country  is  the  formative  period;  and  through  the 
mass  of  recently  published  original  material  on 
America  the  opportunity  to  tell  its  story  well  has 
been  of  late  years  greatly  increased.  In  the  prep- 
aration of  this  work  I  have  endeavored  to  consult 
the  original  sources,  and  to  admit  secondary  testi- 
mony only  in  matters  of  detail.  I  beg  to  express 
my  indebtedness  to  the  authorities  of  the  Harvard 
College  Library  and  the  Virginia  Library  for  their 
courtesy  in  giving  me  special  facilities  for  the  veri- 
fication of  my  authorities. 

LYON  GARDINER  TYLER. 


ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA 


ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA 


CHAPTER  I 

GENESIS  OF  ENGLISH  COLONIZATION 
(1492-1579) 

UP  to  the  last  third  of  the  sixteenth  century 
American  history  was  the  history  of  Spanish 
conquest,  settlement,  and  exploration.  Except  for 
the  feeble  Portuguese  settlements  in  Brazil  and  at 
the  mouth  of  the  La  Plata,  from  Florida  and  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  around  the  eastern  and  western 
coasts  of  South  America,  and  northward  to  the  Gulf 
of  California,  all  was  Spanish — main-land  and  islands 
alike.  The  subject  of  this  volume  is  the  bold  asser- 
tion of  England  to  a  rivalry  in  European  waters 
and  on  American  coasts. 

How  came  England,  with  four  millions  of  people, 
to  enter  into  a  quarter  of  a  century  of  war  with 
the  greatest  power  in  Europe?  The  answer  is  that 
Spain  was  already  decaying,  while  England  was 
instinct  with  the  spirit  of  progress  and  development. 
The  contrast  grew  principally  out  of  the  different 
attitude  of  the  two  nations  towards  the  wealth 

3 


4  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1492 

introduced  into  Europe  from  America,  and  towards 
the  hitherto  established  religion  of  the  Christian 
world.  While  the  treasure  from  Mexico  and  Peru 
enabled  Charles  V.  and  Philip  II.  to  carry  on  great 
wars  and  to  establish  an  immense  prestige  at  the 
different  courts  of  Europe,  it  created  a  speculative 
spirit  which  drew  their  subjects  away  from  sober 
employment.  For  this  reason  manufacturing  and 
agriculture,  for  which  Spain  was  once  so  distinguish- 
ed, were  neglected;  and  the  kingdom,  thinned  of 
people  and  decreasing  in  industry,  grew  dependent 
for  supplies  upon  the  neighboring  countries.1 

On  the  other  hand,  the  treasures  which  destroyed 
the  manufactures  of  Spain  indirectly  stimulated 
those  of  England.  Without  manufactures,  Spain 
had  to  employ  her  funds  in  buying  from  other 
countries  her  clothing,  furniture,  and  all  that  was 
necessary  for  the  comfort  of  her  citizens  at  home 
or  in  her  colonies  in  America.  In  1560  not  above 
a  twentieth  part  of  the  commodities  exported  to 
America  consisted  of  Spanish -manufactured  fabrics : 
all  the  rest  came  through  the  foreign  merchants 
resident  in  Spain.2 

Similar  differences  arose  from  the  attitude  of  the 
two  kingdoms  to  religion.  Philip  loved  to  regard 
himself  as  the  champion  of  the  Catholic  church, 
and  he  encouraged  it  to  extend  its  authority  in 


1  Cf.  Bourne,  Spain  in  America,  chap.  xvi. 

2  Cf.   Cheyney,   European  Background  of  American  History, 
chap.  v. 


1585]          GENESIS   OF   THE   COLONIES  5 

Spain  in  the  most  absolute  manner.  Spain  became 
the  favored  home  of  the  Inquisition,  and  through  its 
terrors  the  church  acquired  complete  sovereignty 
over  the  minds  of  the  people.  Since  free  thought 
was  impossible,  private  enterprise  gave  way  to 
mendicancy  and  indolence.  It  was  not  long  before 
one-half  of  the  property  of  the  realm  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  clergy  and  monastic  orders.1 

In  England,  on  the  other  hand,  Henry  VIII. 's 
quarrel  with  the  pope  in  1534  gave  Protestantism 
a  foothold ;  and  the  suppression  of  the  convents  and 
monasteries  in  1537-1539  put  the  possibility  of  the 
re-establishment  of  papal  power  out  of  question. 
Thus,  while  the  body  of  the  people  remained  at- 
tached to  the  Catholic  church  under  Edward  VI. 
and  Queen  Mary,  the  clergy  had  no  great  power, 
and  there  was  plenty  of  room  for  free  speech. 
Under  Elizabeth  various  causes  promoted  the 
growth  of  Protestantism  till  it  became  a  permanent 
ruling  principle.  Since  its  spirit  was  one  of  in- 
quiry, private  enterprise,  instead  of  being  suppressed 
as  in  Spain,  spread  the  wings  of  manufacture  and 
commerce.2 

Thus,  collision  between  the  two  nations  was  un- 
avoidable, and  their  rivalry  enlisted  all  the  forces 
of  religion  and  interest.  Under  such  influences 
thousands  of  young  Englishmen  crossed  the  channel 
to  fight  with  William  of  Orange  against  the  Span- 

1  Prescott,  Hist,  of  tlie  Reign  of  Philip  II.,  III.,  443. 

2  Ibid.,  chaps,  xi.,  xii. 


6  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1492 

iards  or  with  the  Huguenots  against  the  Guises,  the 
allies  of  Spain.  The  same  motives  led  to  the 
dazzling  exploits  of  Hawkins,  Drake,  and  Cavendish, 
and  sent  to  the  sea  scores  of  English  privateers; 
and  it  was  the  same  motives  which  stimulated 
Gilbert  in  1576,  eighty-four  years  after  the  Spaniards 
had  taken  possession,  in  his  grand  design  of  planting 
a  colony  in  America.  The  purpose  of  Gilbert  was 
to  cut  into  Spanish  colonial  power,  as  was  explained 
by  Richard  Hakluyt  in  his  Discourse  on  Western 
Planting,  written  in  1584:  "If  you  touche  him  [the 
king  of  Spain]  in  the  Indies,  you  touche  the  apple 
of  his  eye;  for  take  away  his  treasure,  which  is 
neruus  belli,  and  which  he  hath  almoste  oute  of  his 
West  Indies,  his  olde  bandes  of  souldiers  will  soone 
be  dissolved,  his  purposes  defeated,  his  power  and 
strengthe  diminished,  his  pride  abated,  and  his 
tyranie  utterly  suppressed."1 

Still,  while  English  colonization  at  first  sprang 
out  of  rivalry  with  Spain  and  was  late  in  begin- 
ning, England's  claims  in  America  were  hardly 
later  than  Spain's.  Christopher  Columbus  at  first 
hoped,  in  his  search  for  the  East  Indies,  to  sail 
under  the  auspices  of  Henry  VII.  Only  five  years 
later,  in  1497,  John  Cabot,  under  an  English  charter, 
reached  the  continent  of  North  America  in  seeking 
a  shorter  route  by  the  northwest;  and  in  1498, 
with  his  son  Sebastian  Cabot,  he  repeated  his 
visit.  But  nothing  important  resulted  from  these 

!  Maine  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  2d  series,  II.,  59. 


i535]          GENESIS   OF   THE   COLONIES  7 

voyages,  and  after  long  neglect  their  memory  was 
revived  by  Hakluyt,1  only  to  support  a  claim  for 
England  to  priority  in  discovery. 

Indeed,  England  was  not  yet  prepared  for  the 
work  of  colonization.  Her  commerce  was  still  in 
its  infancy,  and  did  not  compare  with  that  of 
either  Italy,  Spain,  or  Portugal.  Neither  Columbus 
nor  the  Cabots  were  Englishmen,  and  the  ad- 
vantages of  commerce  were  so  little  understood  in 
England  about  this  period  that  the  taking  of 
interest  for  the  use  of  money  was  prohibited.2 
A  voyage  to  some  mart  "  within  two  days'  distance" 
was  counted  a  matter  of  great  moment  by  merchant 
adventurers.3 

During  the  next  half -century,  only  two  note- 
worthy attempts  were  made  by  the  English  to 
accomplish  the  purposes  of  the  Cabots:  De  Prado 
visited  Newfoundland  in  1527  and  Hore  in  1535,* 
but  neither  of  the  voyages  was  productive  of  any 
important  result.  Notwithstanding,  England's  com- 
merce made  some  advancement  during  this  period. 
A  substantial  connection  between  England  and 
America  was  England's  fisheries  on  the  banks  of 
Newfoundland;  though  used  by  other  European 
states,  over  fifty  English  ships  spent  two  months 
in  every  year  in  those  distant  waters,  and  gained, 

1  Hakluyt,  Discourse  on  Western  Planting, 

2  Robertson,  Works  (ed.  1818),  XI.,  136. 

3  Nova  Britannia  (Force,  Tracts,  I.,  No.  vi.). 

4  Purchas,  Pilgrimes  (ed.  1625),  III.,  809;   Hakluyt,  Voyages 
(ed.  1809),  III.,  167-174. 


8  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1530 

in  the  pursuit,  valuable  maritime  experience.  Prob- 
ably, however,  the  development  of  trade  in  a 
different  quarter  had  a  more  direct  connection  with 
American  colonization,  for  about  1530  William 
Hawkins  visited  the  coast  of  Guinea  and  engaged 
in  the  slave-trade  with  Brazil.1 

Suddenly,  about  the  middle  of  the  century, 
English  commerce  struck  out  boldly;  conscious 
rivalry  with  Spain  had  begun.  The  new  era  opens 
fitly  with  the  return  of  Sebastian  Cabot  to  England 
from  Spain,  where  since  the  death  of  Henry  VII. 
he  had  served  Charles  V.  In  1549,  during  the  third 
year  of  Edward  VI.,  he  was  made  grand  pilot  of 
England  with  an  annual  stipend  of  £166  135.  ^.d* 
He  formed  a  company  for  the  discovery  of  the 
northeast  and  the  northwest  passages,  and  in  1553 
an  expedition  under  Sir  Hugh  Willoughby  and 
Richard  Chancellor  penetrated  the  White  Sea  and 
made  known  the  wonders  of  the  Russian  Empire.3 
The  company  obtained,  in  1554,  a  charter  of  in- 
corporation under  the  title  of  the  "Merchant  Ad- 
venturers for  the  Discovery  of  Lands,  Territories, 
Isles,  Dominions,  and  Seignories  Unknown  or  Fre- 
quented by  Any  English."  To  Russia  frequent 
voyages  were  thereafter  made.  A  few  days  after 
the  departure  of  Willoughby 's  expedition  Richard 
Eden  published  his  Treaty se  of  the  Newe  India;  and 


1  Hakluyt,  Voyages,  III.,  171;  IV.,  198. 

*  Purchas,  Pilgrimes,  III.,  808;  Hakluyt,  Voyages,  III.,  31. 

1  Hakluyt,  Voyages,  I.,  270. 


1564]          GENESIS   OF   THE   COLONIES  9 

two  years  later  appeared  his  Decades  of  the  New 
World,  a  book  which  was  very  popular  among  all 
classes  of  people  in  England.  Cabot  died  not  many 
years  later,  and  Eden,  translator  and  compiler, 
attended  at  his  bedside,  and  "beckons  us  with 
something  of  awe  to  see  him  die."  ' 

During  Mary's  reign  (1553-1558)  the  Catholic 
church  was  restored  in  England,  and  by  the  in- 
fluence of  the  queen,  who  was  married  to  King 
Philip,  the  expanding  commerce  of  England  was 
directed  away  from  the  Spanish  colonial  possessions 
eastward  to  Russia,  Barbary,  Turkey,  and  Persia. 
After  her  death  the  barriers  against  free  commerce 
were  thrown  down.  With  the  incoming  of  Eliza- 
beth, the  Protestant  church  was  re-established  and 
the  Protestant  refugees  returned  from  the  continent ; 
and  three  years  after  her  succession  occurred  the 
first  of  those  great  voyages  which  exposed  the 
weakness  of  Spain  by  showing  that  her  rich  posses- 
sions in  America  were  practically  unguarded  and 
unprotected. 

In  1562  Sir  John  Hawkins,  following  in  the  track 
of  his  father  William  Hawkins,  visited  Guinea,  and, 
having  loaded  his  ship  with  negroes,  carried  them 
to  Hispaniola,  where,  despite  the  Spanish  law  re- 
stricting the  trade  to  the  mother-country,  he  sold 
his  slaves  to  the  planters,  and  returned  to  England 
with  a  rich  freight  of  ginger,  hides,  and  pearls. 
In  1564  Hawkins  repeated  the  experiment  with 

1  Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical  History,  III.,  7. 


io  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1565 

greater  success;  and  on  his  way  home,  in  1565,  he 
stopped  in  Florida  and  relieved  the  struggling  French 
colony  of  Laudonniere,  planted  there  by  Admiral 
Coligny  the  year  before,  and  barbarously  destroyed 
by  the  Spaniards  soon  after  Hawkins's  departure.1 
The  difference  between  our  age  and  Queen  Eliza- 
beth's is  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  Hawkins, 
instead  of  being  put  to  death  as  a  pirate  for  en- 
gaging in  the  slave-trade,  was  rewarded  by  the 
queen  on  his  return  with  a  patent  for  a  coat  of 
arms. 

In  1567  Hawkins  with  nine  ships  revisited  the 
West  Indies,  but  this  time  ill-fortune  overtook  him. 
Driven  by  bad  weather  into  the  harbor  of  San 
Juan  de  Ulloa,  he  was  attacked  by  the  Spaniards, 
several  of  his  ships  were  sunk,  and  some  of  his 
men  were  captured  and  later  put  to  torture  by  the 
Inquisition.  Hawkins  escaped  with  two  of  his 
ships,  and  after  a  long  and  stormy  passage  arrived 
safe  in  England  (January  25,  i56g).2  Queen 
Elizabeth  was  greatly  offended  at  this  conduct  of 
the  Spaniards,  and  in  reprisal  detained  a  squadron 
of  Spanish  treasure  ships  which  had  sought  safety 
in  the  port  of  London  from  some  Huguenot  cruisers. 

In  this  expedition  one  of  the  two  ships  which 
escaped  was  commanded  by  a  young  man  named 
Francis  Drake,  who  came  to  be  regarded  as  the 
greatest  seaman  of  his  age.  He  was  the  son  of  a 
clergyman,  and  was  born  in  Devonshire,  where 

1  Hakluyt,  Voyages,  III.,  593,  618.  *  Ibid.,  618-623. 


1573]          GENESIS   OF   THE   COLONIES  n 

centred  for  two  centuries  the  maritime  skill  of 
England.  While  a  lad  he  followed  the  sea,  and 
acquired  reputation  for  his  courage  and  sagacity. 
Three  years  after  the  affair  at  San  Juan,  Drake 
fitted  out  a  little  squadron,  and  in  1572  sailed,  as 
he  himself  specially  states,  to  inflict  vengeance  upon 
the  Spaniards.  He  had  no  commission,  and  on  his 
own  private  account  attacked  a  power  with  which 
his  country  was  at  peace.1 

Drake  attacked  Nombre  de  Dios  and  Cartagena, 
and,  as  the  historian  relates,  got  together  "a  pretty 
store  of  money,"  an  evidence  that  his  purpose 
was  not  wholly  revenge.  He  marched  across  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama  and  obtained  his  first  view  of 
the  Pacific  Ocean.  "Vehemently  transported  with 
desire  to  navigate  that  sea,"  he  fell  upon  his  knees, 
and  "  implored  the  Divine  Assistance,  that  he  might 
at  some  time  or  other  sail  thither  and  make  a 
perfect  discovery  of  the  same."  2  Drake  reached 
Plymouth  on  his  return  Sunday,  August  9,  1573, 
in  sermon  time;  and  his  arrival  created  so  much 
excitement  that  the  people  left  the  preacher  alone 
in  church  so  as  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  famous 
sailor.3 

Drake  contemplated  greater  deeds.  He  had  now 
plenty  of  friends  who  wished  to  engage  with  him, 


1  Hakluyt,  Voyages,  IV.,   i;   Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical 
History,  III.,  59-84. 

2  Camden,  Annals,  in  Kennet,  England,  II.,  478. 

3  Harris,  Voyages  and  Travels,  II.,  15. 


12  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1573 

and  he  soon  equipped  a  squadron  of  five  ships.  That 
he  had  saved  something  from  the  profits  of  his 
former  voyage  is  shown  by  his  equipment.  The 
Pelican,  in  which  he  sailed,  had  "  expert  musicians 
and  rich  furniture,"  and  "all  the  vessels  for  the 
table,  yea,  many  even  of  the  cook-room,  were  of 
pure  silver."  *  Drake's  object  now  was  to  harry 
the  coast  of  the  ocean  which  he  had  seen  in  1573. 
Accordingly,  he  sailed  from  Plymouth  (December 
J3»  J577)»  coasted  along  the  shore  of  South  America, 
and,  passing  through  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  en- 
tered the  Pacific  in  September,  1578. 

The  Pelican  was  now  the  only  one  of  his  vessels 
left,  as  all  the  rest  had  either  returned  home  or  been 
lost.  Renaming  the  ship  the  Golden  Hind,  Drake 
swept  up  the  western  side  of  South  America  and 
took  the  ports  of  Chili  and  Peru  by  surprise.  He 
captured  galleons  carrying  quantities  of  gold,  silver, 
and  jewelry,  and  acquired  plunder  worth  millions 
of  dollars.2  Drake  did  not  think  it  prudent  to  go 
home  by  the  way  he  had  come,  but  struck  boldly 
northward  in  search  of  a  northeast  passage  into 
the  Atlantic.  He  coasted  along  California  as  far  as 
Oregon,  repaired  his  ship  in  a  harbor  near  San 
Francisco,  took  possession  of  the  country  in  the 
name  of  Queen  Elizabeth  and  called  it  Nova  Albion. 
Finding  no  northeast  passage,  he  turned  his  prow 
to  the  west,  and  circumnavigated  the  globe  by  the 

1  Harris,  Voyages  and  Travels,  II.,  15. 

2  Camden,  Annals,  in  Kennet,  England,  II.,  478,  479. 


1586]          GENESIS   OF   THE   COLONIES  13 

Cape  of  Good  Hope,  arriving  at  Plymouth  in  Novem- 
ber, 1 5  So.1 

The  queen  received  him  with  undisguised  favor, 
and  met  a  request  from  Philip  II.  for  Drake's 
surrender  by  knighting  the  freebooter  and  wearing 
in  her  crown  the  jewel  he  offered  her  as  a  present. 
When  the  Spanish  ambassador  threatened  that 
matters  should  come  to  the  cannon,  she  replied 
"quietly,  in  her  most  natural  voice,"  writes  Men- 
doza,  "  that  if  I  used  threats  of  that  kind  she  would 
throw  me  into  a  dungeon."  The  revenge  that 
Drake  had  taken  for  the  affair  at  San  Juan  de  Ulloa 
was  so  complete  that  for  more  than  a  hundred 
years  he  was  spoken  of  in.  Spanish  annals  as  "the 
Dragon." 

His  example  stimulated  adventure  in  all  directions, 
and  in  1586  Thomas  Cavendish,  of  Ipswich,  sailed  to 
South  America  and  made  a  rich  plunder  at  Spanish 
expense.  He  returned  home  by  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  and  was  thus  the  second  Englishman  to 
circumnavigate  the  globe.2 

In  the  mean  time,  another  actor,  hardly  less  ad- 
venturous but  of  a  far  grander  purpose,  had  stepped 
upon  the  stage  of  this  tremendous  historic  drama. 
Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  was  born  in  Devonshire, 
schooled  at  Eton,  and  educated  at  Oxford.  Be- 
tween 1563  and  1576  he  served  in  the  wars  of 
France,  Ireland,  and  the  Netherlands,  and  was 

1  Camden,  Annals,  in  Kennet,  England,  II.,  479,  480;  Hakluyt, 
Voyages,  IV.,  232-246.  2  Ibid.,  316-341. 

VOL.    IV. — 3 


14  ENGLAND   IN  AMERICA  [1566 

therefore  thoroughly  steeped  in  the  military  train- 
ing of  the  age.1  The  first  evidence  of  Gilbert's 
great  purpose  was  the  charter  by  Parliament,  in  the 
autumn  of  1566,  of  a  corporation  for  the  discovery 
of  new  trades.  Gilbert  was  a  member,  and  in 
1567  he  presented  an  unsuccessful  petition  to  the 
queen  for  the  use  of  two  ships  for  the  discovery 
of  a  northwest  passage  to  China  and  the  establish- 
ment of  a  traffic  with  that  country.2 

Before  long  Gilbert  wrote  a  pamphlet,  entitled 
"A  Discourse  to  Prove  a  Passage  by  the  Northwest 
to  Cathaia  and  the  East  Indies,"  which  was  shown 
by  Gascoigne,  a  friend  of  Gilbert,  to  the  celebrated 
mariner  Martin  Frobisher,  and  stimulated  him  tcJ 
his  glorious  voyages  to  the  northeast  coast  of 
North  America.3  Before  Frobisher's  departure  on 
his  first  voyage  Queen  Elizabeth  sent  for  him  and 
commended  him  for  his  enterprise,  and  when  he 
sailed,  July  i,  1576,  she  waved  her  hand  to  him  from 
her  palace  window.4  He  explored  Frobisher's  Strait 
and  took  possession  of  the  land  called  Meta  Incognita 
in  the  name  of  the  queen.  He  brought  back  with 
him  a  black  stone,  which  a  gold-finder  in  London 
pronounced  rich  in  gold,  and  the  vain  hope  of  a 
gold-mine  inspired  two  other  voyages  (1577,  1578). 
On  his  third  voyage  Frobisher  entered  the  strait 

1  Edwards,  Life  of  Raleigh,  I.,  77. 

2  Cat.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1513-1616,  p.  8. 

3  Hakluyt,   Voyages,  III.,  32-46;  Edwards,  Life  of  Raleigh, 
I.,  77;  Doyle,  English  in  America,  I.,  60. 

4  Hakluyt,  Voyages,  III.,  53. 


1578]          GENESIS   OF   THE   COLONIES  15 

known  as  Hudson  Strait,  but  the  ore  with  which 
he  loaded  his  ships  proved  of  little  value.  John 
Davis,  like  Frobisher,  made  three  voyages  in  three 
successive  years  (1585,  1586,  1587),  and  the  chief 
result  of  his  labors  was  the  discovery  of  the  great 
strait  which  bears  his  name.1 

Meanwhile,  the  idea  of  building  up  another 
English  nation  across  the  seas  had  taken  a  firm 
hold  on  Gilbert,  and  among  those  who  communed 
with  him  were  his  half-brother  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
his  brothers  Adrian  and  John  Gilbert,  besides 
Richard  Hakluyt,  Sir  Philip  Sydney,  Sir  Richard 
Grehville,  Sir  George  Peckham,  and  Secretary  of 
State  Sir  Francis  Walsingham.  The  ill  success  of 
Frobisher  had  no  influence  upon  their  purpose; 
but  four  years  elapsed  after  Gilbert's  petition  to  the 
crown  in  1574  before  he  obtained  his  patent.  How 
these  years  preyed  upon  the  noble  enthusiasm  of 
Gilbert  we  may  understand  from  a  letter  commonly 
attributed  to  him,  which  was  handed  to  the  queen  in 
November,  1 5  7  7 : "  I  will  do  it  if  you  will  allow  me ;  only 
you  must  resolve  and  not  delay  or  dally — the  wings 
of  man's  life  are  plumed  with  the  feathers  of  death." 2 

At  length,  however,  the  formalities  were  com- 
pleted, and  on  June  n,  1578,  letters  to  Gilbert 
passed  the  seals  for  planting  an  English  colony  in 
America.3  This  detailed  charter  of  colonization  is 


1  Hakluyt,  Voyages,  III.,  52-104,  132. 

2  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I.,  9. 
8  Hakluyt,  Voyages,  III.,  174-176. 


16  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1578 

most  interesting,  since  it  contains  several  provisions 
which  reappear  in  many  later  charters.  Gilbert  was 
invested  with  all  title  to  the  soil  within  two  hundred 
leagues  of  the  place  of  settlement,  and  large  govern- 
mental authority  was  given  him.  To  the  crown 
were  reserved  only  the  allegiance  of  the  settlers  and 
one -fifth  of  all  the  gold  and  silver  to  be  found. 
Yet  upon  Gilbert's  power  two  notable  limitations 
were  imposed:  the  colonists  were  to  enjoy  ''all  the 
privileges  of  free  denizens  and  persons  native  of 
England";  and  the  protection  of  the  nation  was 
withheld  from  any  license  granted  by  Gilbert  "  to 
rob  or  spoil  by  sea  or  by  land." 

Sir  Humphrey  lost  no  time  in  assembling  a  fleet, 
but  it  was  not  till  November  19,  1578,  that  he 
finally  sailed  from  Plymouth  with  seven  sail  and 
three  hundred  and  eighty-seven  men,  one  of  the 
ships  being  commanded  by  Raleigh.  The  subsequent 
history  of  the  expedition  is  only  vaguely  known. 
The  voyagers  got  into  a  fight  with  a  Spanish  squad- 
ron and  a  ship  was  lost.1  Battered  and  dispirited 
as  the  fleet  was,  Gilbert  had  still  Drake's  buc- 
caneering expedient  open  to  him;  but,  loyal  to  the 
injunctions  of  the  queen's  charter,  he  chose  to  re- 
turn, and  the  expedition  broke  up  at  Kinsale,  in 
Ireland.2 

In  this  unfortunate  voyage  Gilbert  buried  the 
mass  of  his  fortune,  but,  undismayed,  he  renewed 

1  Hakluyt,  Voyages,  III.,  186. 

2  Col.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1674,  p.  17. 


1579]          GENESIS   OF  THE   COLONIES  17 

his  enterprise.  He  was  successful  in  enlisting  a 
large  number  of  gentlemen  in  the  new  venture,  and 
two  friends  who  invested  heavily — Sir  Thomas 
Gerard,  of  Lancaster,  and  Sir  George  Peckham,  of 
Bucks — he  rewarded  by  enormous  grants  of  land  and 
privileges.1  Raleigh  adventured  £2000  and  con- 
tributed a  ship,  the  Ark  Raleigh; 2  but  probably 
no  man  did  more  in  stirring  up  interest  than  Richard 
Hakluyt,  the  famous  naval  historian,  who  about 
this  time  published  his  Divers  Voyages,  which  fired 
the  heart  and  imagination  of  the  nation.3  In  1579 
an  exploring  ship  was  sent  out  under  Simon  Ferdi- 
nando,  and  the  next  year  another  sailed  under  John 
Walker.  They  reached  the  coast  of  Maine,  and  the 
latter  brought  back  the  report  of  a  silver-mine  dis- 
covered near  the  Penobscot.4 


1  Cal.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1674,  pp.  8-10. 

2  Edwards,  Life  of  Raleigh,  I.,  82,  83. 

3  Stevens,  Thomas  Hariot,  40. 

4  Cal.  of  State  Pap.,  Col,  1574-1660,  p.  2. 


CHAPTER  II 

GILBERT  AND  RALEIGH  COLONIES 
(1583-1602) 

PREPARATIONvS  for  Gilbert's  second  and  fate- 
ful expedition  now  went  forward,  and  public  in- 
terest was  much  aroused  by  the  return  of  Drake,  in 
1580,  laden  with  the  spoils  of  America.  Gilbert 
invited  Raleigh  to  accompany  him  as  vice-admiral, 
but  the  queen  would  not  let  him  accept.1  Indeed, 
she  seemed  to  have  a  presentiment  that  all  would 
not  go  well,  and  when  the  arrangements  for  the 
voyage  were  nearing  completion  she  caused  her 
secretary  of  state,  Walsingham,  to  let  Gilbert  also 
know  that,  "  of  her  special  care"  for  him,  she  wished 
his  stay  at  home  "as  a  man  noted  of  no  good  hap 
by  sea."2  But  the  queen's  remark  only  proved  her 
desire  for  Gilbert's  safety;  and  she  soon  after  sent 
him  word  that  she  wished  him  as  "great  goodhap 
and  safety  to  his  ship  as  if  herself  were  there  in 
person,"  and  requested  his  picture  as  a  keepsake.3 
The  fleet  of  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  consisting  of 

1  Edwards,  Life  of  Raleigh,  I.,  81,  II.,  10. 

2  Col.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1674,  p.  17. 
8  Edwards,  Life  of  Raleigh,  I.,  82. 

18 


1583]  GILBERT   AND    RALEIGH  19 

five  ships  bearing  two  hundred  and  sixty  men, 
sailed  from  Plymouth  June  n,  1583,  and  the  "mis- 
haps" which  the  queen  feared  soon  overtook  them. 
After  scarcely  two  days  of  voyage  the  ship  sent 
by  Raleigh,  the  best  in  the  fleet,  deserted.  Two 
more  ships  got  separated,  and  the  crew  of  one  of 
them,  freed  from  Gilbert's  control,  turned  pirates 
and  plundered  a  French  ship  which  fell  in  their  way. 
Nevertheless,  Gilbert  pursued  his  course,  and  on 
August  3,  1583,  he  reached  the  harbor  of  St.  John's 
in  Newfoundland,  where  he  found  the  two  missing 
ships.  Gilbert  showed  his  commission  to  the  fish- 
ing vessels,  of  which  there  were  no  fewer  than  thirty- 
six  of  all  nations  in  port,  and  their  officers  readily 
recognized  his  authority.  Two  days  later  he  took 
possession  of  the  country  in  the  name  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,  and  as  an  indication  of  the  national  sov- 
ereignty to  all  men  he  caused  the  arms  of  Eng- 
land engraved  on  lead  to  be  fixed  on  a  pillar  of  wood 
on  the  shore  side. 

Mishaps  did  not  end  with  the  landing  in  New- 
foundland. The  emigrants  who  sailed  with  Gilbert 
were  better  fitted  for  a  crusade  than  a  colony,  and, 
disappointed  at  not  at  once  rinding  mines  of  gold 
and  silver,  many  deserted ;  and  soon  there  were  not 
enough  sailors  to  man  all  the  four  ships.  Accord- 
ingly, the  Swallow  was  sent  back  to  England  with 
the  sick;  and  with  the  remainder  of  the  fleet,  well 
supplied  at  St.  John's  with  fish  and  other  necessa- 
ries, Gilbert  (August  20)  sailed  south  as  far  as  forty- 


20  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1583 

four  degrees  north  latitude.  Off  Sable  Island  a 
storm  assailed  them,  and  the  largest  of  the  vessels, 
called  the  Delight,  carrying  most  of  the  provisions, 
was  driven  on  a  rock  and  went  to  pieces. 

Overwhelmed  by  this  terrible  misfortune,  the 
colonists  returned  to  Newfoundland,  where,  yield- 
ing to  his  crew,  Gilbert  discontinued  his  explora- 
tions, and  on  August  31  changed  the  course  of  the 
two  ships  remaining,  the  Squirrel  and  Golden  Hind, 
directly  for  England.  The  story  of  the  voyage 
back  is  most  pathetic.  From  the  first  the  sea  was 
boisterous ;  but  to  entreaties  that  he  should  abandon 
the  Squirrel,  a  little  affair  of  ten  tons,  and  seek  his 
own  safety  in  the  Hind,  a  ship  of  much  larger  size, 
Gilbert  replied,  "  No,  I  will  not  forsake  my  little 
company  going  homeward,  with  whom  I  have 
passed  so  many  storms  and  perils."  Even  then, 
amid  so  much  danger,  his  spirit  rose  supreme,  and 
he  actually  planned  for  the  spring  following  two 
expeditions,  one  to  the  south  and  one  to  the  north; 
and  when  some  one  asked  him  how  he  expected 
to  meet  the  expenses  in  so  short  a  time,  he  replied, 
"  Leave  that  to  me,  and  I  will  ask  a  penny  of  no 
man." 

A  terrible  storm  arose,  but  Gilbert  retained  the 
heroic  courage  and  Christian  faith  which  had  ever 
distinguished  him.  As  often  as  the  Hind,  tossed 
upon  the  waves,  approached  within  hailing  distance 
of  the  Squirrel,  the  gallant  admiral,  "  himself  sitting 
with  a  book  in  his  hand  "  on  the  deck,  would  call  out 


1583]  GILBERT   AND   RALEIGH  21 

words  of  cheer  and  consolation — "We  are  as  near 
heaven  by  sea  as  by  land."  When  night  came  on 
(September  10)  only  the  lights  in  the  riggings  of 
the  Squirrel  told  that  the  noble  Gilbert  still  sur- 
vived. At  midnight  the  lights  went  out  suddenly, 
and  from  the  watchers  on  the  Hind  the  cry  arose, 
"  The  admiral  is  cast  away."  And  only  the  Golden 
Hind  returned  to  England.1 

The  mantle  of  Gilbert  fell  upon  the  shoulders  of 
his  half-brother  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  whose  energy 
and  versatility  made  him,  perhaps,  the  foremost 
Englishman  of  his  age.  When  the  Hind  returned 
from  her  ill-fated  voyage  Raleigh  was  thirty -one 
years  of  age  and  possessed  a  person  at  once  attrac- 
tive and  commanding.  He  was  tall  and  well  propor- 
tioned, had  thick,  curly  locks,  beard,  and  mustaches, 
full,  red  lips,  bluish  gray  eyes,  high  forehead,  and  a 
face  described  as  "long  and  bold." 

By  service  in  France,  the  Netherlands,  and  Ire- 
land he  had  shown  himself  a  soldier  of  the  same 
fearless  stamp  as  his  half-brother  Sir  Humphrey  Gil- 
bert ;  and  he  was  already  looked  upon  as  a  seaman  of 
splendid  powers  for  organization.  Poet  and  scholar, 
he  was  the  patron  of  Edmund  Spenser,  the  famous 
author  of  the  Faerie  Queene;  of  Richard  Hakluyt, 
the  naval  historian;  of  Le  Moyne  and  John  White, 
the  painters;  and  of  Thomas  Hariot,  the  great 
mathematician . 

Expert  in  the  art  of  gallantry,  Raleigh  won  his 

1  Hakluyt,  Voyages,  III.,  184-208. 


22  ENGLAND   IN    AMERICA  [1583 

way  to  the  queen's  heart  by  deftly  placing  between 
her  feet  and  a  muddy  place  his  new  plush  coat.  He 
dared  the  extremity  of  his  political  fortunes  by 
writing  on  a  pane  of  glass  which  the  queen  must  see, 
"Fain  would  I  climb,  but  fear  I  to  fall."  And  she 
replied  with  an  encouraging — "  If  thy  heart  fail  thee, 
climb  not  at  all."  The  queen's  favor  developed 
into  magnificent  gifts  of  riches  and  honor,  and 
Raleigh  received  various  monopolies,  many  forfeited 
estates,  and  appointments  as  lord  warden  of  the 
stannaries,  lieutenant  of  the  county  of  Cornwall, 
vice-admiral  of  Cornwall  and  Devon,  and  captain 
of  the  queen's  guard. 

The  manner  in  which  Raleigh  went  about  the 
work  of  colonization  showed  remarkable  forethought 
and  system.  In  order  to  enlist  the  active  co- 
operation of  the  court  and  gentry,  he  induced 
Richard  Hakluyt  to  write  for  him,  in  1584,  his 
Discourse  on  Western  Planting,  which  he  circulated 
in  manuscript.1  He  not  only  received  from  the 
queen  in  1584  a  patent  similar  to  Gilbert's,2  but  by 
obtaining  a  confirmation  from  Parliament  in  1585 
he  acquired  a  national  sanction  which  Gilbert's  did 
not  possess.3 

In  imitation  of  Gilbert  he  sent  out  first  an  ex- 
ploring expedition  commanded  by  Arthur  Barlow 
and  Philip  Amidas;  but,  warned  by  his  brother's 


1  Stevens,  Thomas  Harlot,  43-48. 

2  For  the  patent,  see  Hakluyt,  Voyages,  III.,  297-301. 

3  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I.,  13. 


1585]  GILBERT   AND   RALEIGH  23 

experience,  he  directed  them  to  go  southward.  They 
left  the  west  of  England  April  27,  1584,  and  arrived 
upon  the  coast  of  North  Carolina  July  4,  where 
they  passed  into  Ocracoke  Inlet  south  of  Cape  Hat- 
teras.  There,  landing  on  an  island  called  Wokokon 
— part  of  the  broken  outer  coast — Barlow  and 
Amidas  took  possession  in  the  right  of  the  queen 
and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.1 

Several  weeks  were  spent  in  exploring  Pamlico 
Sound,  which  they  found  dotted  with  many  small 
islands,  the  largest  of  which,  sixteen  miles  long, 
called  by  the  Indians  Roanoke  Island,  was  fifty  miles 
north  of  Wokokon.  About  the  middle  of  September, 

1584,  they  returned  to  England  and  reported  as  the 
name  of  the  new  country  "  Wincondacoa,"  which  the 
Indians  at  Wokokon  had  cried  when  they  saw  the 
white  men,  meaning  "What  pretty  clothes  you  wear !" 
The  queen,  however,  was  proud  of  the  new  dis- 
covery, and  suggested  that  it  should  be  called,  in 
honor  of  herself,  "  Virginia." 

Pleased  at  the  report  of  his  captains,  Sir  Walter 
displayed  great  energy  in  making  ready  a  fleet  of 
seven  ships,  which  sailed  from  Plymouth  April  9, 

1585.  They  carried  nearly  two  hundred  settlers, 
and   the  three  foremost  men    on   board   were   Sir 
Richard   Grenville,    the   commander   of   the   fleet; 
Thomas  Cavendish,  the  future  circumnavigator  of 
the  globe ;  and  Captain  Ralph  Lane,  the  designated 
governor  of  the  new  colony.     The  fleet  went  the 

1  Hakluyt,  Voyages,  III.,  301. 


24  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1585 

usual  way  by  the  West  Indies,  and  June  20  "  fell 
in  with  the  maine  of  Florida,"  and  June  26  cast 
anchor  at  Wokokon. 

After  a  month  the  fleet  moved  out  again  to  sea, 
and  passing  by  Cape  Hatteras  entered  a  channel 
now  called  New  Inlet.  August  17,  the  colony  was 
landed  on  Roanoke  Island,  and  eight  days  later 
Grenville  weighed  anchor  for  England.  On  the 
way  back  Grenville  met  a  Spanish  ship  ''richly 
loaden,"  and  captured  her,  "boording  her  with  a 
boate  made  with  boards  of  chests,  which  fell  asunder, 
and  sunke  at  the  ships  side,  as  soone  as  euer  he  and 
his  men  were  out  of  it."  October  18,  1585,  he  ar- 
rived with  his  prize  at  Plymouth,  in  England,  where 
he  was  received  with  great  honor  and  rejoicing.1 

The  American  loves  to  connect  the  beginnings  of 
his  country  with  a  hero  like  Grenville.  He  was  one 
of  the  English  admirals  who  helped  to  defeat  the 
Spanish  Armada,  and  nothing  in  naval  warfare  is 
more  memorable  than  his  death.  In  an  expedition 
led  by  Lord  Charles  Howard  in  1591  against  the 
Spanish  plate-fleet,  Grenville  was  vice-admiral,  and 
he  opposed  his  ship  single-handed  against  five  great 
Spanish  galleons,  supported  at  intervals  by  ten 
others,  and  he  fought  them  during  nearly  fifteen 
hours.  Then  Grenville's  vessel  was  so  battered  that 
it  resembled  rather  a  skeleton  than  a  ship,  and  of  the 
crew  few  were  to  be  seen  but  the  dead  and  dying. 
Grenville  himself  was  captured  mortally  wounded, 

1  Hakluyt,  Voyages,  III.,  302-310. 


1586]  GILBERT   AND    RALEIGH  25 

and  died  uttering  these  words,  "  Here  die  I, 
Richard  Grenville,  with  a  joyful  and  quiet  mind, 
for  that  I  have  ended  my  life,  as  a  true  soldier  ought 
to  do,  fighting  for  his  country,  queen,  religion,  and 
honor."  1 

Of  the  settlers  at  Roanoke  during  the  winter  after 
their  landing  nothing  is  recorded,  but  the  prospect 
in  the  spring  was  gloomy.  Lane  made  extensive 
explorations  for  gold-mines  and  for  the  South  Sea, 
and  found  neither.  The  natives  laid  a  plot  to 
massacre  the  settlers,  but  Lane's  soldierly  precau- 
tion saved  the  colonists.  Grenville  was  expected  to 
return  with  supplies  by  Easter,  but  Easter  passed 
and  there  was  no  news.  In  order  to  get  subsistence, 
Lane  divided  his  men  into  three  parties,  of  which 
one  remained  at  Roanoke  Island  and  the  other 
two  were  sent  respectively  to  Hatteras  and  to 
Croatoan,  an  island  just  north  of  Wokokon. 

Not  long  after  Sir  Francis  Drake,  returning  from 
sacking  San  Domingo,  Cartagena,  and  St.  Augustine, 
appeared  in  sight  with  a  superb  fleet  of  twenty- 
three  sail.  He  succored  the  imperilled  colonists 
with  supplies,  and  offered  to  take  them  back  to 
England.  Lane  and  the  chief  men,  disheartened 
at  the  prospects,  abandoned  the  island,  and  July 
28,  1586,  the  colonists  arrived  at  Plymouth  in 
Drake's  ships,  having  lost  but  four  men  during  the 
whole  year  of  their  stay.2 

1  Edwards,  Life  of  Raleigh,  I.,  144-145. 

2  Hakluyt,  Voyages,  III.,  322,  IV.,  10. 


26  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1586 

A  day  or  two  after  the  departure  of  the  colonists 
a  ship  sent  by  Raleigh  arrived,  and  about  fourteen 
or  fifteen  days  later  came  three  ships  under  Sir 
Richard  Grenville,  Raleigh's  admiral.  Grenville 
spent  some  time  beating  up  and  down  Pamlico 
Sound,  hunting  for  the  colony,  and  finally  returned 
to  England,  leaving  fifteen  men  behind  at  Roanoke 
to  retain  possession.1  This  was  the  second  settle- 
ment. 

The  colonists  who  returned  in  Drake's  ships 
brought  back  to  Raleigh  two  vegetable  products 
which  he  speedily  popularized.  One  was  the 
potato,2  which  Raleigh  planted  on  his  estate  in 
Ireland,  and  the  other  was  tobacco,  called  by  the 
natives  "uppowoc,"  which  he  taught  the  courtiers 
to  smoke. 

Most  of  the  settlers  who  went  with  Lane  were 
mere  gold-hunters,  but  there  were  two  who  would 
have  been  valuable  to  any  society — the  mathema- 
tician Thomas  Hariot,  who  surveyed  the  country 
and  wrote  an  account  of  the  settlement;  and  John 
White,  who  made  more  than  seventy  beautiful 
water-colors  representing  the  dress  of  the  Indians 
and  their  manner  of  living.  When  the  engraver 
De  Bry  came  to  England  in  1587  he  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Hakluyt,  who  introduced  him  to 
John  White,  and  the  result  was  that  De  Bry  was 
induced  to  turn  Hariot 's  account  of  Virginia  into  the 

1  Hakluyt,  Voyages,  III.,  323,  340. 

2  Edwards,  Life  of  Raleigh,  I.,   106. 


1587]  GILBERT   AND   RALEIGH  27 

first  part  of  his  celebrated  Peregrinations,  illustrating 
it  from  the  surveys  of  Hariot  and  the  paintings  of 
John  White.1 

If  Raleigh  was  disappointed  with  his  first  attempt 
at  colonization  he  was  encouraged  by  the  good 
report  of  Virginia  given  by  Lane  and  Hariot,  and  in 
less  than  another  year  he  had  a  third  fleet  ready 
to  sail.  He  meant  to  make  this  expedition  more 
of  a  colony  than  Lane's  settlement  at  Roanoke, 
and  selected  as  governor  the  painter  John  White, 
who  could  appreciate  the  natural  productions  of 
the  country.  And  among  the  one  hundred  and  fifty 
settlers  who  sailed  from  Plymouth  May  8,  1587, 
were  some  twenty -five  women  and  children. 

The  instructions  of  Raleigh  required  them  to 
proceed  to  Chesapeake  Bay,  of  which  the  Indians 
had  given  Lane  an  account  on  his  previous  voyage, 
only  stopping  at  Roanoke  for  the  fifteen  men  that 
Grenville  had  left  there;  but  when  they  reached 
Roanoke  Samuel  Ferdinando,  the  pilot,  refused 
to  carry  them  any  farther,  and  White  established 
his  colony  at  the  old  seating-place.  None  of  Gren- 
ville's  men  could  be  fourid,  and  it  was  afterwards 
learned  that  they  had  been  suddenly  attacked  by 
the  Indians,  who  killed  one  man  and  so  frightened 
the  rest  as  to  cause  them  to  take  to  sea  in  a  row- 
boat,  which  was  never  heard  of  again. 

Through  Manteo,  a  friendly  Indian,  White  tried 
to  re-establish  amicable  relations  with  the  natives, 
1  Stevens,  Thomas  Hariot,  55-62. 


28  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1587 

and  for  his  faithful  services  Manteo  was  christened 
and  proclaimed  "Lord  of  Roanoke  and  Dasamon- 
guepeuk";  but  the  Indians,  with  the  exception  of 
the  tribe  of  Croatoan,  to  which  Manteo  belonged, 
declined  to  make  friends.  August  18,  five  days 
after  the  christening  of  Manteo,  Eleanor  Dare, 
daughter  to  the  governor  and  wife  of  Ananias  Dare, 
one  of  White's  council,  was  delivered  of  a  daughter, 
and  this  child,  Virginia,  was  the  first  Christian  born 
in  the  new  realm.1 

When  his  granddaughter  was  only  ten  days  old 
Governor  White  went  to  England  for  supplies.  He 
reached  Hampton  November  8,  isS;.2  He  found 
affairs  in  a  turmoil.  England  was  threatened  with 
the  great  Armada,  and  Raleigh,  Grenville,  Lane, 
and  all  the  other  friends  of  Virginia  were  exerting 
their  energies  for  the  protection  of  their  homes  and 
firesides.3  Indeed,  the  rivalry  of  England  and 
Spain  had  reached  its  crisis;  for  at  this  time  all 
the  hopes  of  Protestant  Christendom  were  centred 
in  England,  and  within  her  borders  the  Protestant 
refugees  from  all  countries  found  a  place  of  safety 
and  repose.  In  1585  the  Dutch,  still  carrying  on 
their  struggle  with  Spain,  had  offered  Queen  Eliza- 
beth the  sovereignty  of  the  Netherlands,  and, 
though  she  declined  it,  she  sent  an  army  to  their 
assistance.  The  French  Huguenots  also  looked 
to  her  for  support  and  protection.  Spain,  on  the 

1  Hakluyt,  Voyages,  III.,  340-345.  2  Ibid.,  346,347. 

8  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I.,  19. 


1588]  GILBERT   AND   RALEIGH  29 

other  hand,  as  the  representative  of  all  Catholic 
Europe,  had  never  appeared  so  formidable.  By 
the  conquest  of  Portugal  in  1580  her  king  had  ac- 
quired control  over  the  East  Indies,  which  were 
hardly  less  valuable  than  the  colonies  of  Spain ;  and 
with  the  money  derived  from  both  the  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  possessions  Philip  supported  his  armies 
in  Italy  and  the  Netherlands,  and  was  the  main- 
stay of  the  pope  at  Rome,  the  Guises  in  France,  and 
the  secret  plotters  in  Scotland  and  Ireland  of  re- 
bellion against  the  authority  of  Elizabeth. 

This  wide  distribution  of  power  was,  however, 
an  inherent  weakness  which  created  demands 
enough  to  exhaust  the  treasury  even  of  Philip,  and 
he  instinctively  recognized  in  England  a  danger 
which  must  be  promptly  removed.  England  must 
be  subdued,  and  Philip,  determining  on  an  in- 
vasion, collected  a  powerful  army  at  Bruges,  in 
Flanders,  and  an  immense  fleet  in  the  Tagus,  in 
Spain.  For  the  attack  he  selected  a  time  when 
Amsterdam,  the  great  mart  of  the  Netherlands,  had 
fallen  before  his  general  the  duke  of  Palma ;  when 
the  king  of  France  had  become  a  prisoner  of  the 
Guises ;  and  when  the  frenzied  hatred  of  the  Catholic 
world  was  directed  against  Elizabeth  for  the  execu- 
tion of  Maty,  queen  of  Scots. 

How  to  meet  and  repel  this  immense  danger 
caused  many  consultations  on  the  part  of  Elizabeth 
and  her  statesmen,  and  at  first  they  inclined  to  make 
the  defence  by  land  only.  But  Raleigh,  like  Themis- 

VOL.   IV. — 4 


3o  ENGLAND   IN  AMERICA  [1588 

tocles  at  Athens  under  similar  conditions,  urgently 
advised  dependence  on  a  well-equipped  fleet,  and 
after  some  hesitation  his  advice  was  followed. 
Then  every  effort  was  strained  to  bring  into  service 
every  ship  that  could  be  found  or  constructed  in 
time  within  the  limits  of  England.,  so  that  in  May, 
1588,  when  Philip's  huge  Armada  set  sail  from  the 
Tagus,  a  numerous  English  fleet  was  ready  to  dispute 
its  onward  passage.  A  great  battle  was  fought  soon 
after  in  the  English  Channel,  and  there  Lord  Charles 
Howard  of  Effingham,  and  Raleigh  and  Drake  and 
Hawkins  joined  with  Grenville  and  Cavendish  and 
Frobisher  and  Lane,  and  all  the  other  glorious 
heroes  of  England,  in  the  mighty  overthrow  of  the 
Spanish  enemy.1 

Under  the  inspiration  of  this  tremendous  victory 
the  Atlantic  Ocean  during  the  next  three  years 
swarmed  with  English  cruisers,  and  more  than  eight 
hundred  Spanish  ships  fell  victims  to  their  attacks. 
So  great  was  the  destruction  that  the  coast  of 
Virginia  abounded  in  the  wreckage.2  But  the  way 
to  a  successful  settlement  in  America  was  not  en- 
tirely opened  until  eight'  years  later,  when  the 
English  fleet,  under  Howard,  Raleigh,  and  Essex, 
completed  the  destruction  of  the  Spanish  power  by 
another  great  naval  victory  won  in  the  harbor  of 
Cadiz. 

Amid  all  this  excitement  and  danger  Raleigh  did 

1  Edwards,  Life  of  Raleigh,  I.,  m. 

2  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I.,  20. 


GILBERT   AND    RALEIGH  31 

not  forget  his  colony  in  Virginia.  Twice  he  sent 
relief  expeditions ;  but  the  first  was  stopped  because 
in  the  struggle  with  Spain  all  the  ships  were  de- 
manded for  government  service;  and  the  second 
was  so  badly  damaged  by  the  Spanish  cruisers  that 
it  could  not  continue  its  voyage.  Raleigh  had 
spent  £40,000  in  his  several  efforts  to  colonize 
Virginia,  and  the  burden  became  too  heavy  for  him 
to  carry  alone.  As  Hakluyt  said,  "It  required  a 
prince's  purse  to  have  the  action  thoroughly 
followed  out."  He  therefore  consented,  in  1589, 
to  assign  a  right  to  trade  in  Virginia  to  Sir  Thomas 
Smith,  John  White,  Richard  Hakluyt,  and  others, 
reserving  a  fifth  of  all  the  gold  and  silver  extracted, 
and  they  raised  means  for  White's  last  voyage  to 
Virginia.1 

It  was  not  until  March,  1591,  that  Governor 
White  was  able  to  put  to  sea  again.  He  reached 
Roanoke  Island  August  17,  and,  landing,  visited 
the  point  where  he  had  placed  the  settlement.  As 
he  climbed  the  sandy  bank  he  noticed,  carved  upon 
a  tree  in  Roman  letters,  "  C  R  O,"  without  a  cross, 
and  White  called  to  mind  that  three  years  before, 
when  he  left  for  England,  it  had  been  agreed  that 
if  the  settlers  ever  found  it  necessary  to  remove  from 
the  island  they  were  to  leave  behind  them  some  such 
inscription,  and  to  add  a  cross  if  they  left  in  danger 
or  distress.  A  little  farther  on  stood  the  fort,  and 
there  White  read  on  one  of  the  trees  an  inscription  in 

1  Stebbins,  Life  of  Raleigh,  47. 


32  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1591 

large  capital  letters,  "  Croatoan."  This  left  no  doubt 
that  the  colony  had  moved  to  the  island  of  that  name 
south  of  Cape  Hatteras  and  near  Ocracoke  Inlet. 
He  wished  the  ships  to  sail  in  that  direction,  but  a 
storm  arose,  and  the  captains,  dreading  the  danger- 
ous shoals  of  Pamlico  Sound,  put  to  sea  and  returned 
to  England  without  ever  visiting  Croatoan.1  White 
never  came  back  to  America,  and  his  separation 
from  the  colony  is  heightened  in  tragic  effect  by  the 
loss  of  his  daughter  and  granddaughter. 

What  became  of  the  settlers  at  Roanoke  has  been 
a  frequent  subject  of  speculation.  When  James- 
town was  established,  in  1607,  the  search  for  them 
was  renewed,  but  nothing  definite  could  be  learned. 
There  is,  indeed,  a  story  told  by  Strachey  that  the 
unfortunate  colonists,  finally  abandoning  all  hope, 
intermixed  with  the  Indians  at  Croatoan,  and  after 
living  with  them  till  about  the  time  of  the  arrival 
at  Jamestown  were,  at  the  instigation  of  Powhatan, 
cruelly  massacred.  Only  seven  of  them — four  men, 
two  boys,  and  a  young  maid — -were  preserved  by  a 
friendly  chief,  and  from  these,  as  later  legends  have 
declared,  descended  a  tribe  of  Indians  found  in  the 
vicinity  of  Roanoke  Island  in  the  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth  century  and  known  as  the  Hatteras 
Indians.2 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh  will  always  be  esteemed  the 
true  parent  of  North  American  colonization,  for 

Hakluyt,  Voyages,  III.,  350-357. 
Strachey,  Travaile  into  Virginia,  26,  85. 


1618]  GILBERT   AND   RALEIGH  33 

though  the  idea  did  not  originate  with  him  he 
popularized  it  beyond  any  other  man.  Just  as  he 
made  smoking  fashionable  at  the  court  of  Elizabeth, 
so  the  colonization  of  Virginia — that  is,  of  the 
region  from  Canada  to  Florida — was  made  fashion- 
able through  his  example.  His  enterprise  caused  the 
advantages  of  America's  soil  and  climate  to  be  appre- 
ciated in  England,  and  he  was  the  first  to  fix  upon 
Chesapeake  Bay  as  the  proper  place  of  settlement. 

When  James  I.  succeeded  Elizabeth  on  the 
throne  Raleigh  lost  his  influence  at  court,  and 
nearly  all  the  last  years  of  his  life  were  spent  a 
prisoner  in  the  Tower  of  London,  where  he  wrote  his 
History  of  the  World.  In  1616  he  was  temporarily 
released  by  the  king  on  condition  of  his  finding  a 
gold-mine  in  Guiana.  When  he  returned  empty- 
handed  he  was,  on  the  complaint  of  the  Spanish 
ambassador,  arrested,  sentenced  to  death,  and 
executed  on  an  old  verdict  of  the  jury,  now  rec- 
ognized to  have  been  based  on  charges  trumped  up 
by  political  enemies.1 

Raleigh  never  relinquished  hope  in  America. 
In  1595  he  made  a  voyage  to  Guiana,  and  in  1602 
sent  out  Samuel  Mace  to  Virginia — the  third  of 
Mace's  voyages  thither.  In  1603,  just  before  his 
confinement  in  the  Tower,  he  wrote  to  Sir  Robert 
Cecil  regarding  the  rights  which  he  had  in  that 
country,  and  used  these  memorable  words,  "  I 
shall  yet  live  to  see  it  an  English  nation."2 

1  Edwards,  Life  of  Raleigh,  I.,  706,  721.  2  Ibid.,  91. 


CHAPTER  III 

FOUNDING  OF  VIRGINIA 
(1602-1608) 

THOUGH  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower  of  London 
who  could  not  share  in  the  actual  work,  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  lived  to  see  his  prediction  regarding 
Virginia  realized  in  1607.  He  had  personally  given 
substance  to  the  English  claim  to  North  America 
based  upon  the  remote  discovery  of  John  Cabot, 
and  his  friends,  after  he  had  withdrawn  from  the 
field  of  action,  were  the  mainstay  of  English  coloniza- 
tion in  the  Western  continent. 

Bartholomew  Gosnold  and  Bartholomew  Gilbert, 
son  of  Sir  Humphrey,  with  Raleigh's  consent  and 
under  the  patronage  of  Henry  Wriothesley,  the 
brilliant  and  accomplished  earl  of  Southampton, 
renewed  the  attempt  at  colonization.  With  a  small 
colony  of  thirty-two  men  they  set  sail  from  Fal- 
mouth  March  26,  1602,  took  an  unusual  direct 
course  across  the  Atlantic,  and  seven  weeks  later 
saw  land  at  Cape  Elizabeth,  on  the  coast  of  Maine. 
They  then  sailed  southward  and  visited  a  headland 
which  they  named  Cape  Cod,  a  small  island  now 
"No  Man's  Land,"  which  they  called  Martha's 

34 


1603]  FOUNDING   OF   VIRGINIA  35 

Vineyard  (a  name  since  transferred  to  the  larger 
island  farther  north),  and  the  group  called  the 
Elizabeth  Islands.  The  colonists  were  delighted 
with  the  appearance  of  the  country,  but  becoming 
apprehensive  of  the  Indians  returned  to  England 
after  a  short  stay.1 

In  April,  1603,  Richard  Hakluyt  obtained 
Raleigh's  consent,  and,  aided  by  some  merchants  of 
Bristol,  sent  out  Captain  Martin  Pring  with  two 
small  vessels,  the  Speedwell  and  Discovery,  on  a 
voyage  of  trade  and  exploration  to  the  New  Eng- 
land coast.  Pring  was  absent  eight  months,  and 
returned  with  an  account  of  the  country  fully  con- 
firming Gosn old's  good  report.  Two  years  later, 
in  1605,  the  earl  of  Southampton  and  his  brother- 
in-law,  Lord  Thomas  Arundell,  sent  out  Captain 
George  Wey mouth,  who  visited  the  Kennebec  and 
brought  back  information  even  more  encouraging.2 

Meanwhile,  Queen  Elizabeth  died  March  24, 
1603,  and  was  succeeded  by  King  James  I.  In 
November  Raleigh  was  convicted  of  high  -  treason 
and  his  monopoly  of  American  colonization  was 
abrogated.  By  the  peace  ratified  by  the  king  of 
Spain  June  15,  1605,  about  a  month  before  Wey- 
mouth's  return,  the  seas  were  made  more  secure  for 
English  voyages,  although  neither  power  conceded 
the  territorial  claims  of  the  other.3 

1  Purchas,  Pilgrimes,  IV.,  1647-1651;  Strachey,  Travaile  into 
Virginia,  153-158;  John  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  332-340. 

2  Purchas,  Pilgrimes,  IV.,  1654-1656,  1659-1667. 

3  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I.,  27. 


36  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1600 

Owing  to  these  changed  conditions  and  the 
favorable  reports  of  Gosnold,  Pring,  and  Weymouth, 
extensive  plans  for  colonization  were  considered  in 
England.  Since  the  experiment  of  private  coloniza- 
tion had  failed,  the  new  work  was  undertaken  by 
joint -stock  companies,  for  which  the  East  India 
Company,  chartered  in  1600,  with  the  eminent 
merchant  Sir  Thomas  Smith  at  its  head,  afforded  a 
model.  Not  much  is  known  of  the  beginnings  of 
the  movement,  but  it  matured  speedily,  and  the 
popularity  of  the  comedy  of  Eastward  Ho!  written 
by  Chapman  and  Marston  and  published  in  the  fall 
of  1605,  reflected  upon  the  stage  the  interest  felt 
in  Virginia.  The  Spanish  ambassador  Zuniga  be- 
came alarmed,  and,  going  to  Lord  Chief  -  Justice 
Sir  John  Popharn,  protested  against  the  preparations 
then  making  as  an  encroachment  upon  Spanish 
territory  and  a  violation  of  the  treaty  of  peace. 
Popham,  with  true  diplomatic  disregard  of  truth, 
evaded  the  issue,  and  assured  Zuniga  that  the  only 
object  of  the  scheme  was  to  clear  England  of 
"thieves  and  traitors"  and  get  them  "drowned 
in  the  sea."  l 

A  month  later,  April  10,  1606,  a  charter  was 
obtained  from  King  James  for  the  incorporation  of 
two  companies,  one  consisting  of  "certain  knights, 
gentlemen,  merchants  "  in  and  about  London,  and 
the  other  of  "  sundry  knights,  gentlemen,  mer- 
chants "  in  and  about  Plymouth.  The  chief  patron 

1  Brown,  Genes 's  of  the  United  States,  I.,  46. 


1606]  FOUNDING  OF  VIRGINIA  37 

of  the  London  Company  was  Sir  Robert  Cecil, 
the  secretary  of  state ;  and  the  chief  patron  of  the 
Plymouth  Company  was  Sir  John  Popham,  chief- 
justice  of  the  Queen's  Bench,  who  presided  at  the 
trial  of  Raleigh  in  1603. 

The  charter  claimed  for  England  all  the  North 
American  continent  between  the  thirty-fourth  and 
forty-fifth  degrees  north  latitude,  but  gave  to 
each  company  only  a  tract  fronting  one  hundred 
miles  on  the  sea  and  extending  one  hundred  miles 
inland.  The  London  Company  was  authorized  to 
locate  a  plantation  called  the  First  Colony  in  some 
fit  and  convenient  place  between  thirty-four  and 
forty-one  degrees,  and  the  Plymouth  Company  a 
Second  Colony  somewhere  between  thirty-eight 
and  forty-five  degrees,  but  neither  was  to  plant 
within  one  hundred  miles  of  the  other. 

The  charter  contained  "not  one  ray  of  popular 
rights,"  and  neither  the  company  nor  the  colonists 
had  any  share  in  the  government.  The  company 
must  financier  the  enterprise,  but  could  receive  only 
such  rewards  as  those  intrusted  with  the  man- 
agement by  the  home  government  could  win  for 
them  in  directing  trade,  opening  mines,  and  dispos- 
ing of  lands.  As  for  the  emigrants,  while  they  were 
declared  entitled  "to  all  liberties,  franchises,  and 
immunities  of  British  subjects,"  they  were  to  enjoy 
merely  such  privileges  as  officers  not  subject  to 
them  in  any  way  might  allow  them.  The  manage- 
ment of  both  sections  of  Virginia,  including  the 


38  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1606 

very  limited  grants  to  the  companies,  was  conferred 
upon  one  royal  council,  which  was  to  name  a  local 
council  for  each  of  the  colonies  in  America;  and 
both  superior  and  subordinate  councils  were  to 
govern  according  to  "laws,  ordinances,  and  in- 
structions" to  be  given  them  by  the  king.1 

Two  days  after  the  date  of  the  charter  these 
promised  "laws,"  etc.,  were  issued,  and,  though 
not  preserved  in  their  original  form,  they  were 
probably  very  similar  to  the  articles  published  dur- 
ing the  following  November.2  According  to  these 
last,  the  superior  council,  resident  in  England,  was 
permitted  to  name  the  colonial  councils,  which 
were  to  have  power  to  pass  ordinances  not  re- 
pugnant to  the  orders  of  the  king  and  superior 
council;  to  elect  or  remove  their  presidents,  to 
remove  any  of  their  members,  to  supply  their  own 
vacancies;  and  to  decide  all  cases  occurring  in  the 
colony,  civil  as  well  as  criminal,  not  affecting  life 
or  limb.  Capital  offences  were  to  be  tried  by  a 
jury  of  twelve  persons,  and  while  to  all  intents  and 
purposes  the  condition  of  the  colonists  did  not 
differ  from  soldiers  subject  to  martial  law,  it  is  to 
the  honor  of  King  James  that  he  limited  the  death 
penalty  to  tumults,  rebellion,  conspiracy,  mutiny, 
sedition,  murder,  incest,  rape,  and  adultery,  and 
did  not  include  in  the  number  of  crimes  either 

1  Hening,  Statutes,    I.,  57-66;    see   also  Cheyney,  European 
Background  of  American  History,  chap.  viii. 

2  Brown,  First  Republic,  8. 


1606]  FOUNDING   OF   VIRGINIA  39 

witchcraft  or  heresy.  The  articles  also  provided  that 
all  property  of  the  two  companies  should  be  held 
in  a  "  joint  stock"  for  five  years  after  the  landing.1 

The  charter  being  thus  secured,  both  companies 
proceeded  to  procure  emigrants;  and  they  had  not 
much  difficulty,  as  at  this  time  there  were  many 
unemployed  people  in  England.  The  wool  culture 
had  converted  great  tracts  of  arable  land  in  England 
into  mere  pastures  for  sheep,2  and  the  closure  of  the 
monasteries  and  religious  houses  removed  the 
support  from  thousands  of  English  families.  Since 
1585  this  surplus  humanity  had  found  employment 
in  the  war  with  Spain,  but  the  return  of  peace  in 
1605  had  again  thrown  them  upon  society ,  and  they 
were  eager  for  chances,  no  matter  how  remote,  of 
gold-mines  and  happy  homes  beyond  the  seas.3 

Hence,  in  three  months'  time  the  Plymouth 
Company  had  all  things  in  readiness  for  a  trial 
voyage,  and  August  12,  1606,  they  sent  out  a  ship 
commanded  by  Henry  Challons  with  twenty-nine 
Englishmen  and  two  Indians  brought  into  England 
by  Wey mouth  the  year  before.  Two  months  later 
sailed  another  ship  (of  which  Thomas  Hanham 
was  captain  and  Martin  Pring  master),  "with  all 
necessary  supplies  for  the  seconding  of  Captain 
Challons  and  his  people."  Unfortunately,  Captain 
Challons' s  vessel  and  crew  were  taken  by  the  Span- 

1  Hening,  Statutes,  I.,  67-75. 

2  Ashley,  English  Economic  History,  II.,  261-376. 
8  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I.,  50. 


40  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1607 

iards  in  the  West  Indies,  and,  though  Hanham  and 
Pring  reached  the  coast  of  America,  they  returned 
without  making  a  settlement.1  Nevertheless,  they 
brought  back,  as  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  wrote 
many  years  after,  * '  the  most  exact  discovery  of  that 
coast  that  ever  came  to  my  hands  since,"  which 
wrought  "such  an  impression"  on  Chief  -  Justice 
Popham  and  the  other  members  of  the  Plymouth 
Company  that  they  determined  upon  another  and 
better-appointed  attempt  at  once.2 

May  31,  1607,  this  second  expedition  sailed  from 
Plymouth  with  one  hundred  and  twenty  settlers 
embarked  in  two  vessels — a  fly  boat  called  the  Gift 
of  God  and  a  ship  called  Mary  and  John.  August 
1 8,  1607,  the  company  landed  on  a  peninsula  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Sagadahoc,  or  Kennebec  River,  in 
Maine.  After  a  sermon  by  their  preacher,  Richard 
Seymour,  the  commission  of  government  and 
ordinances  prepared  by  the  authorities  at  home 
were  read.  George  Popham  was  therein  designated 
president;  and  Raleigh  Gilbert,  James  Davis, 
Richard  Seymour,  Richard  Davis,  and  Captain 
Harlow  composed  the  council.  The  first  work  at- 
tempted was  a  fort,  which  they  intrenched  and 
fortified  with  twelve  pieces  of  ordnance.  Inside 
they  erected  a  church  and  storehouse  and  fifteen 
log -cabins.  Then  a  ship -builder  constructed  a 

1  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I.,   127-139. 

2  Gorges,  Brief e  Narration  (Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  3d 
series.,  VI.  53). 


i6o8]  FOUNDING   OF   VIRGINIA  41 

pinnace,  called  the  Virginia,  which  afterwards  was 
used  in  the  southern  colony.  But  the  colonists  were 
soon  discouraged,  and  more  than  half  their  number 
went  back  to  England  in  the  ships  when  they  re- 
turned in  December. 

The  winter  of  1607-1608  was  terrible  to  the 
forty -five  men  who  remained  at  Kennebec,  where 
land  and  water  were  locked  in  icy  fetters.  Their 
storehouse  took  fire  and  was  consumed,  with  a 
great  part  of  the  provisions,  and  about  the  same  time 
President  George  Popham  died.  The  other  leader, 
Captain  Raleigh  Gilbert,  grew  discouraged  when, 
despite  an  industrious  exploration  of  the  rivers  and 
harbors,  he  found  no  mines  of  any  kind.  When 
Captain  James  Davis  arrived  in  the  spring,  bringing 
news  of  the  death  of  Chief -Justice  Popham  and  of 
Sir  John  Gilbert,  Raleigh  Gilbert's  brother,  who 
had  left  him  his  estate,  both  leader  and  colonists 
were  so  disenchanted  of  the  country  that  they  with 
one  accord  resolved  upon  a  return.  Wherefore 
they  all  embarked,  as  we  are  told,  in  their  newly 
arrived  ship  and  newly  constructed  pinnace  and 
set  sail  for  England.  "And  this,"  says  Strachey, 
"was  the  end  of  that  northerne  colony  upon  the 
river  Sagadahoc."  l 

To  the  London  Company,  therefore,  though 
slower  in  getting  their  expedition  to  sea,  belongs  the 
honor  of  the  first  permanent  English  colony  in 

1  Strachey,  Travaile  into  Virginia,  162-180;  Brown,  Genesis 
of  the  United  States,  I.,  190-194. 


42  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1606 

America.  December  10,  1606,  ten  days  before  the 
departure  of  this  colony,  the  council  for  Virginia  set 
down  in  writing  regulations  deemed  necessary  for 
the  expedition.  The  command  of  the  ships  and 
settlers  was  given  to  Captain  Christopher  Newport, 
a  famous  seaman,  who  in  1591  had  brought  into  the 
port  of  London  the  treasure -laden  carrack  the  Madre 
de  Dios,  taken  by  Raleigh's  ship  the  Roe  Buck. 
He  was  to  take  charge  of  the  commissions  of  the 
local  council,  and  not  to  break  the  seals  until  they 
had  been  upon  the  coast  of  Virginia  twenty-four 
hours.  Then  the  council  were  to  elect  their  president 
and  assume  command  of  the  settlers ;  while  Captain 
Newport  was  to  spend  two  months  in  discovery 
and  loading  his  ships  "with  all  such  principal  com- 
modities and  merchandise  there  to  be  had."  l 

With  these  orders  went  a  paper,  perhaps  drawn 
by  Hakluyt,  giving  valuable  advice  concerning  the 
selection  of  the  place  of  settlement,  dealings  with 
the  natives,  and  explorations  for  mines  and  the 
South  Sea.2  In  respect  to  the  place  of  settlement 
they  were  especially  advised  to  choose  a  high  and 
dry  situation,  divested  of  trees  and  up  some  river, 
a  considerable  distance  from  the  mouth.  The 
emigrants  numbered  one  hundred  and  twenty  men- 
no  women.  Besides  Captain  Newport,  the  admiral, 
in  the  Sarah  Constant,  of  a  hundred  tons,  the  lead- 
ing persons  in  the  exploration  were  Bartholomew 
Gosnold,  who  commanded  the  Goods  peed,  of  forty 

1  Neill,  Virginia  Company,  4-8.  2  Ibid.,  8-14. 


1606]  FOUNDING   OF   VIRGINIA  43 

tons;  Captain  John  Ratcliffe,  who  commanded  the 
Discovery,  of  twenty  tons ;  Edward  Maria  Wingfield ; 
George  Percy,  brother  of  the  earl  of  Northumber- 
land; John  Smith;  George  Kendall,  a  cousin  of  Sir 
Edwin  Sandys;  Gabriel  Archer;  and  Rev.  Robert 
Hunt. 

Among  these  men  John  Smith  was  distinguished 
for  a  career  combining  adventure  and  romance. 
Though  he  was  only  thirty  years  of  age  he  had 
already  seen  much  service  and  had  many  hair- 
breadth escapes,  his  most  remarkable  .exploit  having 
been  his  killing  before  the  town  of  Regal,  in  Transyl- 
vania, three  Turks,  one  after  another,  in  single 
combat.1  The  ships  sailed  from  London  December 
20,  1606,  and  Michael  Drayton  wrote  some  quaint 
verses  of  farewell,  of  which  perhaps  one  will  suffice : 

"  And  cheerfully  at  sea 
Success  you  still  entice, 

To  get  the  pearl  and  gold, 

And  ours  to  hold 
Virginia, 
Earth's  only  paradise  I" 

The  destination  of  the  colony  was  Chesapeake 
Bay,  a  large  gulf  opening  by  a  strait  fifteen  miles 
wide  upon  the  Atlantic  at  thirty-seven  degrees,  and 
reaching  northward  parallel  to  the  sea  -  coast  one 
hundred  and  eighty-five  miles.  Into  its  basin  a 
great  many  smooth  and  placid  rivers  discharge  their 
contents.  Perhaps  no  bay  of  the  world  has  such 

1  Purchas,  Pilgrimes,  II.,  1365. 


44  ENGLAND   IN    AMERICA  [1607 

diversified  scenery.  Among  the  rivers  which  enter 
the  bay  from  the  west,  four — the  Potomac,  Rap- 
pahannock,  York,  and  James  —  are  particularly 
large  and  imposing.  They  divide  what  is  called 
tide-water  Virginia  into  long  and  narrow  peninsulas, 
which  are  themselves  furrowed  by  deep  creeks 
making  numerous  necks  or  minor  peninsulas  of 
land.  Up  these  rivers  and  creeks  the  tide  ebbs  and 
flows  for  many  miles.  In  1607,  before  the  English 
arrived,  the  whole  of  this  tide- water  region,  except 
here  and  there  where  the  Indians  had  a  cornfield, 
was  covered  with  primeval  forests,  so  free  from 
undergrowth  that  a  coach  with  four  horses  could  be 
driven  through  the  thickest  groups  of  trees. 

The  numerous  tribes  of  Indians  who  inhabited 
this  region  belonged  to  the  Algonquin  race,  and  at 
the  time  Captain  Newport  set  sail  from  England 
they  were  members  of  a  confederacy,  of  which 
Powhatan  was  head  war  chief  or  werowance.  There 
were  at  least  thirty-four  of  these  tribes,  and  to  each 
Powhatan  appointed  one  of  his  own  friends  as  chief. 
Powhatan's  capital,  or  "  werowocomoco,"  was  on 
York  River  at  Portan  Bay  (a  corruption  for  Pow- 
hatan) ,  about  fourteen  miles  from  Jamestown ;  and 
Pochins,  one  of  his  sons,  commanded  at  Point 
Comfort,  while  Parahunt,  another  son,  was  wero- 
wance at  the  falls  of  the  James  River,  one  hundred 
and  twenty  miles  inland.  West  of  the  bay  region, 
beyond  the  falls  of  the  rivers,  were  other  con- 
federacies of  Indians,  who  carried  on  long  wars  with 


1607]  FOUNDING   OF   VIRGINIA  45 

Powhatan,  of  whom  the  most  important  were  the 
Monacans,  or  Manakins,  and  Massawomekes.1 

Powhatan's  dominions  extended  from  the  Roanoke 
River,  in  North  Carolina,  to  the  head  of  Chesapeake 
Bay,  and  in  all  this  country  his  will  was  despotic. 
He  had  an  organized  system  of  collecting  tribute 
from  the  werowances,  and  to  enforce  his  orders  kept 
always  about  him  fifty  armed  savages  "of  the 
tallest  in  his  kingdom."  Each  tribe  had  a  territory 
defined  by  natural  bounds,  and  they  lived  on  the 
rivers  and  creeks  in  small  villages,  consisting  of 
huts  called  wigwams,  oval  in  shape,  and  made  of 
bark  set  upon  a  framework  of  saplings.  Sometimes 
these  houses  were  of  great  length,  accommodating 
many  families  at  once;  and  at  Uttamussick,  in  the 
peninsula  formed  by  the  Pamunkey  and  Mattapony, 
were  three  such  structures  sixty  feet  in  length, 
where  the  Indians  kept  the  bodies  of  their  dead 
chiefs  under  the  care  of  seven  priests,  or  medicine- 
men. 

The  religion  of  these  Chesapeake  Bay  Indians, 
like  that  of  all  the  other  Indians  formerly  found 
on  the  coast,  consisted  in  a  belief  in  a  great  number 
of  devils,  who  were  to  be  warded  off  by  powwows 
and  conjurations.  Captain  Smith  gives  an  account 
of  a  conjuration  to  which  he  was  subjected  at 
Uttamussick  when  a  captive  in  December,  1607. 
At  daybreak  they  kindled  a  fire  in  one  of  the  long 

1  On   the   American    Indians,    Farrand,    Basis   of   American 
History,  chaps,  vi.— xiv. 
VOL.  iv. — 5 


46  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1607 

houses  and  by  it  seated  Captain  Smith.  Soon  the 
chief  priest,  hideously  painted,  bedecked  with 
feathers,  and  hung  with  skins  of  snakes  and  weasels, 
came  skipping  in,  followed  by  six  others  similarly 
arrayed.  Rattling  gourds  and  chanting  most 
dismally,  they  marched  about  Captain  Smith,  the 
chief  priest  in  the  lead  and  trailing  a  circle  of  meal, 
after  which  they  marched  about  him  again  and  put 
down  at  intervals  little  heaps  of  corn  of  five  or 
six  grains  each.  Next  they  took  some  little  bunches 
of  sticks  and  put  one  between  every  two  heaps  of 
corn.  These  proceedings,  lasting  at  intervals  for 
three  days,  were  punctuated  with  violent  gesticula- 
tions, grunts,  groans,  and  a  great  rattling  of  gourds.1 
Another  custom  of  the  Indians  is  linked  with  a 
romantic  incident  in  Virginia  history.  Not  infre- 
quently some  wretched  captive,  already  bound,  to 
be  tortured  to  death,  has  owed  his  life  to  the  in- 
terference of  some  member  of  the  tribe  who  an- 
nounced his  or  her  desire  to  adopt  him  as  a  brother 
or  son.  The  motives  inducing  this  interference 
proceeded  sometimes  from  mere  business  con- 
siderations and  sometimes  from  pity,  superstition, 
or  admiration.  It  was  Captain  Smith's  fortune 
during  his  captivity  to  have  a  personal  experience 
of  this  nature.  After  the  conjuration  at  Uttamus- 
sick  Smith  was  brought  to  Werowocomoco  and 

1  For  accounts  of  aboriginal  Virginia,  see  Strachey,  Travaile 
into  Virginia;  Spelman,  in  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States, 
I.,  483-488;  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  47-84. 


1607]  FOUNDING   OF   VIRGINIA  47 

ushered  into  a  long  wigwam,  where  he  found 
Powhatan  sitting  upon  a  bench  and  covered  with  a 
great  robe  of  raccoon  skins,  with  the  tails  hanging 
down  like  tassels.  On  either  side  of  him  sat  an 
Indian  girl  of  sixteen  or  seventeen  years,  and  along 
the  walls  of  the  room  two  rows  of  grim  warriors, 
and  back  of  them  two  rows  of  women  with  faces 
and  shoulders  painted  red,  hair  bedecked  with  the 
plumage  of  birds,  and  necks  strung  with  chains  of 
white  beads. 

At  Smith's  entrance  those  present  gave  a  great 
shout,  and  presently  two  stones  were  brought  before 
Powhatan,  and  on  these  stones  Smith's  head  was 
laid.  Next  several  warriors  with  clubs  took  their 
stand  near  him  to  beat  out  his  brains,  whereupon 
Powhatan's  ''dearest  daughter,"  Pocahontas,  a  girl 
of  about  twelve  years  old,  rushed  forward  and 
entreated  her  father  to  spare  the  prisoner.  When 
Powhatan  refused  she  threw  herself  upon  Smith,  got 
his  head  in  her  arms,  and  laid  her  own  upon  his. 
This  proved  too  much  for  Powhatan.  He  ordered 
Smith  to  be  released,  and,  telling  him  that  hence- 
forth he  would  regard  him  as  his  son,  sent  him  with 
guides  back  to  Jamestown.1 

The  credibility  of  this  story  has  been  attacked 
on  the  ground  that  it  does  not  occur  in  Smith's 
True  Relation,  a  contemporaneous  account  of  the 
colony,  and  appears  first  in  his  Generall  Historie, 
published  in  1624.  But  the  editor  of  the  True 

1  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.) ,  400. 


48  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1607 

Relation  expressly  states  that  the  published  ac- 
count does  not  include  the  entire  manuscript  as 
it  came  from  Smith.  Hence  the  omission  counts 
for  little,  and  there  is  nothing  unusual  in  Smith's 
experience,  which,  as  Dr.  Fiske  says,  "is  precisely 
in  accord  with  Indian  usage."  About  1528  John 
Ortiz,  of  Seville,  a  soldier  of  Pamfilo  de  Narvaez, 
captured  by  the  Indians  on  the  coast  of  Florida,  was 
saved  from  being  roasted  to  death  by  the  chief's 
daughter,  a  case  very  similar  to  that  of  John  Smith 
and  Pocahontas.  Smith  was  often  inaccurate  and 
prejudiced  in  his  statements,  but  that  is  far  from 
saying  that  he  deliberately  mistook  plain  objects  of 
sense  or  concocted  a  story  having  no  foundation.1 

Still  another  incident  illustrative  of  Indian  life 
is  given  by  Smith.  In  their  idle  hours  the  Ind- 
ians amused  themselves  with  singing,  dancing, 
and  playing  upon  musical  instruments  made  of 
pipes  and  small  gourds,  and  at  the  time  of  another 
visit  to  Werowocomoco  Smith  was  witness  to  a 
very  charming  scene  in  which  Pocahontas  was  again 
the  leading  actor.  While  the  English  were  sitting 
upon  a  mat  near  a  fire  they  were  startled  by  loud 
shouts,  and  a  party  of  Indian  girls  came  out  of  the 
woods  strangely  attired.  Their  bodies  were  painted, 
some  red,  some  white,  and  some  blue.  Pocahontas 
carried  a  pair  of  antlers  on  her  head,  an  otter's  skin 

1  Cases  of  rescue  and  adoption  are  numerous.  See  the  case  of 
Conture,  in  Parkman,  Jesuits,  223;  Fiske,  Old  Virginia  and  Her 
Neighbors,  I.,  113. 


1607]  FOUNDING   OF   VIRGINIA  49 

at  her  waist  and  another  on  her  arm,  a  quiver  of 
arrows  at  her  back,  and  a  bow  and  arrow  in  her 
hand.  Another  of  the  bana  carried  a  sword,  an- 
other a  club,  and  another  a  pot-stick,  and  all  were 
horned  as  Pocahontas.  Casting  themselves  in  a 
ring  about  the  fire,  they  danced  and  sang  for  the 
space  of  an  hour,  and  then  with  a  shout  departed 
into  the  woods  as  suddenly  as  they  came.1 

On  the  momentous  voyage  to  Virginia  Captain 
Newport  took  the  old  route  by  the  Canary  Islands 
and  the  West  Indies,  and  they  were  four  months  on 
the  voyage.  In  the  West  Indies  Smith  and  Wing- 
field  quarrelled,  and  the  latter  charged  Smith  with 
plotting  mutiny,  so  that  he  was  arrested  and  kept 
in  irons  till  Virginia  was  reached.  After  leaving 
the  West  Indies  bad  weather  drove  them  from 
their  course;  but,  April  26,  1607,  they  saw  the 
capes  of  Virginia,  which  were  forthwith  named 
Henry  and  Charles,  after  the  two  sons  of  King 
James. 

Landing  at  Cape  Henry,  they  set  up  a  cross 
April  29,  and  there  they  had  their  first  experience 
with  the  Indians.  The  Chesapeakes  assaulted  them 
and  wounded  two  men.  About  that  time  the 
seals  were  broken,  and  it  was  found  that  Edward 
Maria  Wingfield,  who  was  afterwards  elected  presi- 
dent for  one  year,  Bartholomew  Gosnold,  Christopher 
Newport,  John  Smith,  John  Ratcliffe,  John  Martin, 
and  George  Kendall  were  councillors. 

1  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.) ,  436. 


50  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1607 

For  more  than  two  weeks  they  sought  a  place  of 
settlement,  and  they  named  the  promontory  at  the 
entrance  of  Hampton  Roads  "  Point  Comfort,"  and 
the  broad  river  which  opened  beyond  after  the  king 
who  gave  them  their  charter.  At  length  they  de- 
cided upon  a  tract  of  land  in  the  Paspahegh  coun- 
try, distant  about  thirty-two  miles  from  the  river's 
mouth;  and  though  a  peninsula  they  called  it  an 
island,  because  of  the  very  narrow  isthmus  (long 
worn  away)  connecting  it  with  the  main  -  land. 
There  they  landed  May  14,  1607  (May  24  New 
Style),  and  at  the  west  end,  where  the  channel  of 
the  river  came  close  to  the  shore,  they  constructed 
a  triangular  fort  with  bulwarks  in  each  corner, 
mounting  from  three  to  five  cannon,  and  within  it 
marked  off  the  beginnings  of  a  town,  which  they 
called  Jamestown.1 

The  colonists  were  at  first  in  high  spirits,  for 
the  landing  occurred  in  the  most  beautiful  month 
of  all  the  year.  In  reality,  disaster  was  already 
impending,  for  their  long  passage  at  sea  had  much 
reduced  the  supplies,  and  the  Paspaheghs  bitterly 
resented  their  intrusion.  Moreover,  the  peninsula 
of  Jamestown  was  not  such  a  place  as  their  in- 
structions contemplated.  It  was  in  a  malarious 
situation,  had  no  springs  of  fresh  water,  and  was 
thickly  covered  with  great  trees  and  tall  grass* 
which  afforded  protection  to  Indian  enemies. 

May  22  Captain  Newport  went  up  in  a  shallop 

1  Percy,  Discourse,  in  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  Ivii.— Ixx. 


1607]  FOUNDING   OF   VIRGINIA  51 

with  twenty  others  to  look  for  a  gold-mine  at  the 
falls  of  James  River.  He  was  gone  only  a  week, 
but  before  he  returned  the  Indians  had  assaulted 
the  fort,  and  his  assistance  was  necessary  in  com- 
pleting the  palisades.  When  Newport  departed 
for  England,  June  22,  he  left  one  hundred  and  four 
settlers  in  a  very  unfortunate  condition : 1  they  were 
besieged  by  Indians ;  a  small  ladle  of  "  ill-condition- 
ed" barley-meal  was  the  daily  ration  per  man;  the 
lodgings  of  the  settlers  were  log  -  cabins  and  holes 
in  the  ground,  and  the  brackish  water  of  the  river 
served  them  for  drink.2  The  six  weeks  following 
Newport's  departure  were  a  time  of  death  and 
despair,  and  by  September  10  of  the  one  hundred 
and  four  men  only  forty-six  remained  alive. 

Under  such  circumstances  dissensions  might  have 
been  expected,  but  they  were  intensified  by  the 
peculiar  government  devised  by  the  king.  In  a 
short  time  Gosnold  died,  and  Kendall  was  detected 
in  a  design  to  desert  the  colony  and  was  shot. 
Then  (September  10)  Ratcliffe,  Smith,  and  Martin 
deposed  Wingfield  from  the  government  and  elected 
as  president  John  Ratcliffe. 

In  such  times  men  of  strong  character  take  the 
lead.  When  the  cape  merchant  Thomas  Studley, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  care  for  the  supplies  and 
dispense  them,  died,  his  important  office  was  con- 
ferred on  Smith.  In  this  capacity  Smith  showed 

1  Percy,  Discourse,  in  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  Ixx. 

*  Breife  Declaration,  in  Virginia  State  Senate  Document,  1874. 


52  ENGLAND   IN  AMERICA  [1607 

great  abilities  as  a  corn-getter  from  the  Indians, 
whom  he  visited  at  Kecoughtan  (Hampton),  Wa- 
rascoyack,  and  Chickahominy.  At  length,  during 
the  fall  of  1607,  the  Indians  stopped  hostilities,  and 
for  a  brief  interval  health  and  plenty  prevailed.1 

In  December  Smith  went  on  an  exploring  trip 
up  the  Chickahominy,  but  on  this  occasion  his  good 
luck  deserted  him — two  of  his  men  were  killed  by 
the  Indians  and  he  himself  was  captured  and 
carried  from  village  to  village,  but  he  was  released 
through  the  influence  of  Pocahontas,  and  returned 
to  Jamestown  (January  2,  1608)  to  find  more 
dangers.  In  his  absence  RatclifTe,  the  president, 
admitted  Gabriel  Archer,  Smith's  deadly  enemy, 
into  the  council;  and  immediately  upon  his  arrival 
these  two  arrested  him  and  tried  him  under  the 
Levitical  law  for  the  loss  of  the  two  men  killed  by 
the  Indians.  He  was  found  guilty  and  condemned 
to  be  hanged  the  next  day ;  but  in  the  evening  New- 
port arrived  in  the  John  and  Francis  with  the 
"  First  Supply"  of  men  and  provisions,  and  Rat- 
cliffe  and  Archer  were  prevented  from  carrying  out 
their  plan.2  Newport  found  only  thirty  or  forty 
persons  surviving  at  Jamestown,  and  he  brought 
about  seventy  more.  Of  the  six  members  of  the 
council  living  at  the  time  of  his  departure  in  June, 
1607,  two,  Gosnold  and  Kendall,  were  dead,  Smith 

1  Percy,  Discourse,  in  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  Ixxiii. 

2  Wingfield,  Discourse,  in  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  Ixxiv. 


-xci. 


1607]  FOUNDING   OF   VIRGINIA  53 

was  under  condemnation,  and  Wingfield  was  a 
prisoner.  Now  Smith  was  restored  to  his  seat  in 
council,  while  Wingfield  was  released  from  custody.1 

Five  days  after  Newport's  arrival  at  Jamestown 
a  fire  consumed  nearly  all  the  buildings  in  the  fort.2 
The  consequence  was  that,  as  the  winter  was  very 
severe,  many  died  from  exposure  while  working  to 
restore  the  town.  The  settlers  suffered  also  from 
famine,  which  Captain  Newport  partially  relieved 
by  visiting  Powhatan  in  February  and  returning 
in  March  with  his  "  pinnace  well  load  en  with  come, 
wheat,  beanes,  and  pease,"  which  kept  the  colony 
supplied  for  some  weeks.8 

Newport  remained  in  Virginia  for  more  than  three 
months,  but  things  were  not  improved  by  his  stay. 
His  instructions  required  him  to  return  with  a  car- 
go, and  the  poor  colonists  underwent  the  severest 
sort  of  labor  in  cutting  down  trees  and  loading  the 
ship  with  cedar,  black  walnut,  and  clapboard.4 
Captain  Martin  thought  he  discovered  a  gold-mine 
near  Jamestown,  and  for  a  time  the  council  had 
busied  the  colonists  in  digging  worthless  ore,  some 
of  which  Newport  carried  to  England.5  These 
works  hindered  others  more  important  to  the  planta- 
tion, and  only  four  acres  of  land  was  put  in  corn 
during  the  spring.6  Newport  took  back  with  him 

1  Wingfield,  Discourse,  in  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  Ixxxvi. 

2  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I.,  175. 

3  Wingfield,  Discourse,  in  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  Ixxxvii. 

4  Breife  Declaration.  6  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  104. 
e  Breife  Declaration. 


54  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1607 

the  councillors  Wingfield  and  Archer,  and  April 
20,  ten  d*ays  after  Newport's  departure,  Captain 
Francis  Nelson  arrived  in  the  Phoenix  with  about 
forty  additional  settlers.  He  stayed  till  June, 
when,  taking  a  load  of  cedar,  he  returned  to  England, 
having  among  his  passengers  Captain  John  Martin, 
another  of  the  council. 

During  the  summer  Smith  spent  much  time  ex- 
ploring the  Chesapeake  Bay,  Potomac,  and  Rappa- 
hannock  rivers,1  and  in  his  absence  things  went 
badly  at  Jamestown.  The  mariners  of  Newport's 
and  Nelson's  ships  had  been  very  wasteful  while  they 
stayed  in  Virginia,  and  after  their  departure  the 
settlers  found  themselves  on  a  short  allowance 
again.  Then  the  sickly  season  in  1608  was  like 
that  of  1607,  and  of  ninety-five  men  living  in  June, 
1608,  not  over  fifty  survived  in  the  fall.  The 
settlers  even  followed  the  precedent  of  the  previous 
year  in  deposing  an  unpopular  president,  for  Rat- 
cliff  e,  by  employing  the  men  in  the  unnecessary  work 
of  a  governor's  house,  brought  about  a  mutiny  in 
July,  which  led  to  the  substitution  of  Matthew 
Scrivener.  At  length,  September  10,  1608,  Captain 
Ratcliffe's  presidency  definitely  expired  and  Captain 
Smith  was  elected  president. 

1  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  109-120. 


CHAPTER  IV 

GLOOM  IN  VIRGINIA 
(1608-1617) 

WHEN  Newport  arrived  with  the  "  Second  Sup- 
ply," September  29,  1608,  he  brought  little 
relief.  His  seventy  passengers,  added  to  the  num- 
ber that  survived  the  summer,  raised  the  population 
at  Jamestown  to  about  one  hundred  and  twenty. 
Among  the  new-comers  were  Richard  Waldo,  Peter 
Wynne  (both  added  to  the  council),  Francis  West, 
a  brother  of  Lord  Delaware;  eight  Poles  and  Ger- 
mans, sent  over  to  begin  the  making  of  pitch 
and  soap  ashes;  a  gentlewoman,  Mrs.  Forrest,  and 
her  maid,  Anne  Burras,  who  were  the  first  of  their 
sex  to  settle  at  Jamestown.  About  two  months 
later  there  was  a  marriage  in  the  church  at  James- 
town between  John  Laydon  and  Anne  Burras,1  and 
a  year  later  was  born  Virginia  Laydon,  the  first 
white  child  in  the  colony.2 

The  instructions  brought  by  Newport  expressed 
the  dissatisfaction  of  the  council  with  the  paltry 

1  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  114,  130. 

2  Hotten,  Emigrants  to  America,  245;  Brown,  First  Republic, 
114. 

55 


56  ENGLAND   IN  AMERICA  [1608 

returns  made  to  the  company  for  their  outlay,  and 
required  President  Smith  to  aid  Newport  to  do  three 
things1 — viz.,  crown  Powhatan;  discover  a 'gold- 
mine and  a  passage  to  the  South  Sea;  and  find 
Raleigh's  lost  colony.  Smith  tells  us  that  he  was 
wholly  opposed  to  all  these  projects,  but  sub- 
mitted as  best  he  might. 

The  coronation  of  Powhatan  was  a  formality 
borrowed  from  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  peerage  for 
Manteo,  and  duly  took  place  at  Werowocomoco. 
Powhatan  was  presented  with  a  basin,  ewer,  bed, 
bed-cover,  and  a  scarlet  cloak,  but  showed  great 
unwillingness  to  kneel  to  receive  the  crown.  At 
last  three  of  the  party,  by  bearing  hard  upon  his 
shoulders,  got  him  to  stoop  a  little,  and  while  he  was 
in  that  position  they  clapped  it  upon  his  head. 
Powhatan  innocently  turned  the  whole  proceeding 
into  ridicule  by  taking  his  old  shoes  and  cloak  of 
raccoon  skin  and  giving  them  to  Newport. 

To  seek  gold-mines  and  the  South  Sea,  Newport, 
taking  all  the  strong  and  healthy  men  at  the  fort, 
visited  the  country  of  the  Monacans  beyond  the 
falls  of  the  James.  In  this  march  they  discovered 
the  vein  of  gold  that  runs  through  the  present  coun- 
ties of  Louisa,  Goochland,  Fluvanna,  and  Bucking- 
ham ;  but  as  the  ore  was  not  easily  extracted  from 
the  quartz  they  returned  to  Jamestown  tired  and 
disheartened.  The  search  for  Raleigh's  lost  colony 
was  undertaken  with  much  less  expense — several 

1  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  121. 


1608]  GLOOM   IN   VIRGINIA  57 

small   parties   were   sent    southward    but    learned 
nothing  important. 

In  December,  1608,  Newport  returned  to  England, 
taking  with  him  a  cargo  of  pitch,  tar,  iron  ore,  and 
other  articles  provided  at  great  labor  by  the  over- 
worked colonists.  Smith  availed  himself  of  the  op- 
portunity to  send  by  Newport  an  account  of  his 
summer  explorations,  a  map  of  Chesapeake  Bay 
and  tributary  rivers,  and  a  letter  in  answer  to  the 
complaints  signified  to  him  in  the  instructions  of 
the  home  council.  Smith's  reply  was  querulous  and 
insubordinate,  and  spiteful  enough  against  Rat- 
cliff  e,  Archer,  and  Newport,  but  contained  many 
sound  truths.  He  ridiculed  the  policy  of  the  com- 
pany, and  told  them  that  "it  were  better  to  give 
£500  a  ton  for  pitch,  tar,  and  the  like  in  the  settled 
countries  of  Russia,  Sweden,  and  Denmark  than 
send  for  them  hither  till  more  necessary  things  be 
provided  "  ;  "  for,"  said  he,  "  in  overtaxing  our  weake 
and  unskillful  bodies,  to  satisfie  this  desire  of 
present  profit,  we  can  scarce  ever  recover  ourselves 
from  one  supply  to  another."  Ratcliffe  returned 
to  England  with  Newport,  after  whose  departure 
Smith  was  assisted  for  a  short  time  by  a  council  con- 
sisting of  Matthew  Scrivener,  Richard  Waldo,  and 
Peter  Wynne.  The  two  former  were  drowned  during 
January,  1609,  and  the  last  died  not  long  after.  Smith 
was  left  sole  ruler,  and,  contrary  to  the  intention 
of  the  king,  he  made  no  attempt  to  fill  the  council.1 

1  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  23,  125,  442,  449,  460. 


58  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1608 

The  "Second  Supply"  had  brought  provisions, 
which  lasted  only  two  months,1  and  most  of  Smith's 
time  during  the  winter  1608-1609  was  occupied  in 
trading  for  corn  with  the  Indians  on  York  River. 
In  the  spring  much  useful  work  was  done  by  the 
colonists  under  Smith's  directions.  They  dug  a 
well  for  water,  which  till  then  had  been  obtained 
from  the  river,  erected  some  twenty  cabins,  shingled 
the  church,  cleared  and  planted  forty  acres  of  land 
with  Indian -corn,  built  a  house  for  the  Poles  to 
make  glass  in,  and  erected  two  block-houses. 

Smith  started  to  build  a  fort  "for  a  retreat"  on 
Gray's  Creek,  opposite  to  Jamestown  (the  place  is 
still  called  "Smith's  Fort"),  but  a  remarkable 
circumstance,  not  at  all  creditable  to  Smith's  vig- 
ilance or  circumspection,  stopped  the  work  and  put 
the  colonists  at  their  wits'  end  to  escape  starva- 
tion. On  an  examination  of  the  casks  in  which 
their  corn  was  stored  it  was  found  that  the  rats  had 
devoured  most  of  the  contents,  and  that  the  re- 
mainder was  too  rotten  to  eat.2 

To  avoid  starvation,  President  Smith,  like  Lane  at 
Roanoke  Island,  in  May,  1609,  dispersed  the  whole 
colony  in  three  parties,  sending  one  to  live  with  the 
savages,  another  to  Point  Comfort  to  try  for  fish, 
and  another,  the  largest  party,  twenty  miles  down 
the  river  to  the  oyster-banks,  where  at  the  end  of 
nine  weeks  the  oyster  diet  caused  their  skins  "to 

1  Breife  Declaration. 

2  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  133-147,  154. 


1609]  GLOOM    IN   VIRGINIA  59 

peale  off  from  head  to  foote  as  if  they  had  been 
flead."  1 

t  While  the  colony  was  in  this  desperate  condition 
there  arrived  from  England,  July  14,  1609,  a  small 
bark,  commanded  by  Samuel  Argall,  with  a  supply 
of  bread  and  wine,  enough  to  last  the  colonists  one 
month.  He  had  been  sent  out  by  the  London 
Company  to  try  for  sturgeon  in  James  River  and  to 
find  a  shorter  route  to  Virginia.  He  brought  news 
that  the  old  charter  had  been  repealed,  that  a  new 
one  abolishing  the  council  in  Virginia  had  been 
granted,  and  that  Lord  Delaware  was  coming,  at 
the  head  of  a  large  supply  of  men  and  provisions, 
as  sole  and  absolute  governor  of  Virginia.2 

The  calamities  in  the  history  of  the  colony  as  thus 
far  outlined  have  been  attributed  to  the  great 
preponderance  of  " gentlemen"  among  these  early 
immigrants;  but  afterwards  when  the  company 
sent  over  mechanics  and  laborers  the  story  of  mis- 
fortune was  not  much  changed.  The  preceding 
narrative  shows  that  other  causes,  purposely  un- 
derestimated at  the  time,  had  far  more  to  do  with 
the  matter.  Imported  diseases  and  a  climate 
singularly  fatal  to  the  new-comers,  the  faction- 
breeding  charter,  the  communism  of  labor,  Indian 
attack,  and  the  unreasonable  desire  of  the  company 
for  immediate  profit  afford  explanations  more  than 

1  Breife  Declaration. 

2  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  159;  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United 
States,  I.,  343. 


60  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1609 

sufficient.  Despite  the  presence  of  some  unworthy 
characters,  these  " gentlemen"  were  largely  com- 
posed of  the  "  restless,  pushing  material  of  which 
the  pathfinders  of  the  world  have  ever  been  made." 

The  ships  returning  from  the  "Second  Supply" 
reached  England  in  January,  1609,  and  the  account 
that  they  brought  of  the  dissensions  at  Jamestowrn 
convinced  the  officers  of  the  London  Company  that 
the  government  in  Virginia  needed  correction.  It 
was  deemed  expedient  to  admit  stockholders  into 
some  share  of  the  government,  and  something  like 
a  "boom"  was  started.  Broadsides  were  issued 
by  the  managers,  pamphlets  praising  the  country 
were  published,  and  sermons  were  delivered  by 
eminent  preachers  like  Rev.  William  Simonds  and 
Rev.  Daniel  Price.  Zuniga,  the  Spanish  minister, 
was  greatly  disturbed,  and  urgently  advised  his 
master,  Philip  III.,  to  give  orders  to  have  "these 
insolent  people  in  Virginia  quickly  annihilated." 
But  King  Philip  was  afraid  of  England,  and  con- 
tented himself  with  instructing  Zuniga  to  keep  on 
the  watch ;  and  thus  the  preparations  of  the  London 
Company  went  on  without  interruption.1 

May  23,  1609,  a  new  charter  was  granted  to 
the  company,  constituting  it  a  corporation  entirely 
independent  of  the  North  Virginia  or  Plymouth 
Company.  The  stockholders,  seven  hundred  and 
sixty-five  in  number,  came  from  every  rank,  pro- 
fession, or  trade  in  England,  and  even  included  the 

1  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I.,  250-321. 


1609]  GLOOM   IN   VIRGINIA  61 

merchant  guilds  in  London.1  The  charter  increased 
the  company's  bounds  to  a  tract  fronting  on  the 
Atlantic  Ocean,  "from  the  point  of  land  called 
Cape,  or  Point,  Comfort  all  along  the  sea-coast  to  the 
northward  two  hundred  miles,  and  from  the  point 
of  Cape  Comfort  all  along  the  sea-coast  to  the 
southward  two  hundred  miles,"  and  extending  "up 
into  the  land,  throughout  from  sea  to  sea,  west  and 
northwest,"  2  a  clause  which  subsequently  caused 
much  dispute. 

The  governing  power  was  still  far  from  taking 
a  popular  form,  being  centred  in  a  treasurer  and 
council,  vacancies  in  which  the  company  had  the 
right  to  fill.  For  the  colonists  it  meant  nothing 
more  than  change  of  one  tyranny  for  another,  since 
the  local  government  in  Virginia  was  made  the 
rule  of  an  absolute  governor.  For  this  office  the 
council  selected  one  of  the  peers  of  the  realm, 
Thomas  West,  Lord  Delaware,  but  as  he  could  not 
go  out  at  once  they  commissioned  Sir  Thomas 
Gates  as  first  governor  of  Virginia,3  arming  him  with 
a  code  of  martial  law  which  fixed  the  penalty  of 
death  for  many  offences. 

All  things  being  in  readiness,  the  "  Third  Supply  " 
left  Falmouth,  June  8,  1609,  in  nine  ships,  carrying 
about  six  hundred  men,  women,  and  children,  and 

1  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I.,  228. 

2  Hening,   Statutes,    I.,  80-98;    Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United 
States,  I.,  206-224. 

3  True    and    Sincere  Declaration,   in    Brown,   Genesis   of  the 
United  States,  I.,  345. 

VOL.    IV. — 6 


62  ENGLAND   IN  AMERICA  [1609 

in  one  of  the  ships  called  the  Sea  Venture  sailed 
the  governor,  Sir  Thomas  Gates,  and  the  two 
officers  next  in  command,  Sir  George  Somers  and 
Captain  Christopher  Newport. 

When  within  one  hundred  and  fifty  leagues  of 
the  West  Indies  they  were  caught  in  the  tail  of  a 
hurricane,  which  scattered  the  fleet  and  sank  one 
of  the  ships.  To  keep  the  Sea  Venture  from  sinking, 
the  men  bailed  for  three  days  without  intermission, 
standing  up  to  their  middle  in  water.  Through 
this  great  danger  they  were  preserved  by  Somers, 
who  acted  as  pilot,  without  taking  food  or  sleep 
for  three  days  and  nights,  and  kept  the  ship  steady 
in  the  waves  till  she  stranded,  July  29,  1609,  on 
one  of  the  Bermuda  Islands,  where  the  company, 
one  hundred  and  fifty  in  number,  landed  in  safety. 
They  found  the  island  a  beautiful  place,  full  of  wild 
hogs,  which  furnished  them  an  abundance  of  meat, 
to  which  they  added  turtles,  wild  fowl,  and  various 
fruits.  How  to  get  away  was  the  question,  and 
though  they  had  not  a  nail  they  started  promptly  to 
build  two  small  ships,  the  Patience  and  Deliverance, 
out  of  the  cedar  which  covered  the  country-side. 
May  10,  1 6 10,  they  were  ready  to  sail  with  the  whole 
party  for  Jamestown,  which  they  reached  without 
accident  May  23.* 

At  Jamestown  a  sad  sight  met  their  view.     The 

*  Purchas,  Pilgrimes,  IV.,  1734-1754;  Plain  Description  of 
the  Barmudas  (Force,  Tracts,  III.,  No.  iii.) ;  Brown,  Genesis  of  the 
United  States,  I.,  346,  347. 


1610]  GLOOM   IN  VIRGINIA  63 

place  looked  like  "some  ancient  fortification  "  all  in 
ruins;  the  palisades  were  down,  the  gates  were  off 
their  hinges,  and  the  church  and  houses  were  in  a 
state  of  utter  neglect  and  desolation.  Out  of  the 
ruins  tottered  some  sixty  wretches,  looking  more 
like  ghosts  than  human  beings,  and  they  told  a 
story  of  suffering  having  hardly  a  parallel.1 

The  energetic  Captain  Argall,  whose  arrival  at 
Jamestown  has  been  already  noticed,  temporarily 
relieved  the  destitution  there,  first  by  supplies 
which  he  brought  from  England  and  afterwards  by 
sturgeon  which  he  caught  in  the  river.2  August 
ii,  1609,  four  of  the  storm-tossed  ships  of  Gates's 
fleet  entered  Hampton  Roads,  and  not  long  after 
three  others  joined  them.  They  set  on  land  at 
Jamestown  about  four  hundred  passengers,  many 
of  them  ill  with  the  London  plague;  and  as  it  was 
the  sickly  season  in  Virginia,  and  most  of  their 
provisions  were  spoiled  by  rain  and  sea-water,  their 
arrival  simply  aggravated  the  situation. 

To  these  troubles,  grave  enough  of  themselves, 
were  added  dissensions  among  the  chief  men. 
Ratcliffe,  Martin,  and  Archer  returned  at  this  time, 
and  President  Smith  showed  little  disposition  to 
make  friends  with  them  or  with  the  new-comers, 
and  insisted  upon  his  authority  under  the  old  com- 
mission until  Gates  could  be  heard  from.  In  the 


1  Purchas,  Pilgrimes,  IV.,  1749. 

2  Breife  Declaration;  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I., 
404-406 


64  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1609 

wrangles  that  ensued,  nearly  all  the  gentlemen 
opposed  Smith,  while  the  mariners  on  the  ships 
took  his  side,  and  it  was  finally  decided  that  Smith 
should  continue  in  the  presidency  till  September  10, 
when  his  term  expired.1 

Thus  having  temporarily  settled  their  differences, 
the  leaders  divided  the  immigrants  into  three  par- 
ties, retaining  one  under  Smith  at  Jamestown,  and 
sending  another  under  John  Martin  to  Nansemond, 
and  a  third  under  Francis  West  to  the  falls  of  the 
James  River.  The  Indians  so  fiercely  assailed  the 
two  latter  companies  that  both  Martin  and  West 
soon  returned.  Smith  was  suspected  of  instigating 
these  attacks,  and  thus  fresh  quarrels  broke  out. 
About  the  time  of  the  expiration  of  his  presidency 
Smith  was  injured  by  an  explosion  of  gunpowder, 
and  in  this  condition,  exasperated  against  Mar- 
tin, Archer,  and  Ratcliffe  of  the  former  council,  he 
would  neither  give  up  the  royal  commission  nor  lay 
down  his  office;  whereupon  they  deposed  him  and 
elected  George  Percy  president.2  When  the  ships  de- 
parted in  October,  1609,  Smith  took  passage  for  Eng- 
land, and  thus  the  colony  lost  its  strongest  character. 
Whatever  qualifications  must  be  made  in  his  preju- 
diced account  of  the  colony,  the  positions  of  trust 
which  he  enjoyed  after  reaching  home  prove  that  his 
merit  does  not  rest  solely  upon  his  own  opinions. 

1  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I.,  330-332. 

2  Smith,   Works    (Arber's  ed),   480-485;   Archer's  letter,  in 
Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I.,  331-332;  Ratcliffe's  let- 
ter, ibid.,  334-335;  Brown,  First  Republic,  94-97. 


1610]  GLOOM   IN   VIRGINIA  65 

Under  Percy  the  colony  went  from  bad  to  worse. 
Sickness  soon  incapacitated  him,  and  his  advisers, 
Martin,  Archer,  Ratcliffe,  and  West,  were  not  men  of 
ability.  Probably  no  one  could  have  accomplished 
much  good  under  the  conditions;  and  though  it 
became  fashionable  afterwards  in  England  to  abuse 
the  emigrants  as  a  "lewd  company  "  and  " gallants 
packed  thither  by  their  friends  to  escape  worse 
destinies  at  home,"  the  broadsides  issued  by  the 
company  show  that  the  emigrants  of  the  "Third 
Supply"  were  chiefly  artisans  of  all  sorts.1  The 
Rev.  William  Croshaw  perhaps  stated  the  case  fair- 
ly in  a  sermon  which  he  preached  in  i6io,2  when 
he  said  that  "  those  who  were  sent  over  at  the  com- 
pany's expense  were,  for  aught  he  could  see,  like 
those  that  were  left  behind,  even  of  all  sorts,  bet- 
ter and  worse,"  and  that  the  gentlemen  "who 
went  on  their  own  account "  were  "as  good  as  the 
scoffers  at  home,  and,  it  may  be,  many  degrees 
better." 

The  colonists  at  first  made  various  efforts  to 
obtain  supplies;  and  at  President  Percy's  command 
John  Ratcliffe,  in  October,  1609,  established  a  fort 
called  Algernourne  and  a  fishery  at  Point  Comfort, 
and  in  the  winter  of  1 609-16 io3  went  in  a  pinnace 
to  trade  with  Powhatan  in  York  River;  but  was 
taken  off  his  guard  and  slain  by  the  Indians  with 

1  Brown,  First  Republic,  92. 

2  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I.,  364. 

3  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  497. 


66  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1610 

twenty-seven  of  his  men.1  Captain  West  tried  to 
trade  also,  but  failing  in  the  attempt,  sailed  off 
to  England.2  Matters  reached  a  crisis  when  the 
Indians  killed  and  carried  off  the  hogs,  drove  away 
the  deer,  and  laid  ambushes  all  around  the  fort 
at  Jamestown.3 

Finally  came  a  period  long  remembered  as  the 
"  Starving  Time,"  when  corn  and  even  roots  from 
the  swamps  failed.  The  starving  settlers  killed  and 
ate  the  dogs  and  horses  and  then  the  mice  and 
snakes  found  about  the  fort.  Some  turned  canni- 
bals, and  an  Indian  who  had  been  slain  was  dug 
out  of  the  ground  and  devoured.  Others  crazed 
with  hunger  dogged  the  footsteps  of  their  comrades ; 
and  one  man  cut  his  wife  into  pieces  and  ate  her 
up,  for  which  barbarous  act  he  was  executed.  Even 
religion  failed  to  afford  any  consolation,  and  a  man 
threw  his  Bible  into  the  fire  and  cried  out  in  the 
market-place,  "  There  is  no  God  in  heaven." 

Only  Daniel  Tucker,  afterwards  governor  of 
Bermuda,  seemed  able  to  take  any  thought.  He 
built  a  boat  and  caught  fish  in  the  river,  and  "this 
small  relief  did  keep  us  from  killing  one  another 
to  eat, ' '  says  Percy.  Out  of  more  than  five  hundred 
colonists  in  Virginia  in  the  summer  of  1609  there 
remained  about  the  latter  part  of  May,  1610,  not 
above  sixty  persons — men,  women,  and  children 

1  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I.,  483—488. 

2  True  Declaration  (Force,  Tracts,  III.,  No.  i.). 
8  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  498. 


1610]  GLOOM    IN   VIRGINIA  67 

— and  even  these  were  so  reduced  by  famine  and 
disease  that  had  help  been  delayed  ten  days  longer 
all  would  have  perished.1 

The  arrival  of  Sir  Thomas  Gates  relieved  the 
immediate  distress,  and  he  asserted  order  by  the 
publication  of  the  code  of  martial  law  drawn  up 
in  England.2  Then  he  held  a  consultation  with 
Somers,  Newport,  and  Percy,  and  decided  to  aban- 
don the  settlement.  As  the  provisions  brought 
from  the  Bermudas  were  only  sufficient  to  last  the 
company  sixteen  days  longer,  he  prepared  to  go  to 
Newfoundland,  where,  as  it  was  the  fishing  season, 
he  hoped  to  get  further  supplies  which  might  enable 
them  to  reach  England.3  Accordingly,  he  sent  the 
pinnace  Virginia  to  Fort  Algernourne  to  take  on 
the  guard;  and  then  embarked  (June  7,  1610)  the 
whole  party  at  Jamestown  in  the  two  cedar  vessels 
built  in  the  Bermudas.  Darkness  fell  upon  them 
at  Hog  Island,  and  the  next  morning  at  Mulberry 
Island  they  met  the  Virginia  returning  up  the  river, 
bearing  a  letter  from  Lord  Delaware  announcing  his 
arrival  at  Point  Comfort,  and  commanding  him  to 
take  his  ships  and  company  back  to  Jamestown; 
which  order  Gates  obeyed,  landing  at  Jamestown 
that  very  night.4 

1  Breife    Declaration;    Percy,     Trewe    Relacyon,    quoted    by 
Brown,  First  Republic,  94,   and  by  Eggleston,   Beginners  of  a 
Nation,  39;   The  Tragical  Relation,  in  Neill,  Virginia  Company, 
407-411;    True  Declaration  (Force,  Tracts,  III.,  No.  i.). 

2  Laws   Divine,    Morall    and    Martiall    (Force,    Tracts,    III., 
No.  ii.).  3  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I.,  401-415. 

4  Ibid.,  407. 


68  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1610 

It  seems  that  the  reports  which  reached  the  council 
of  the  company  in  England  in  December,  of  the  dis- 
appearance of  Sir  Thomas  Gates  and  the  ill  con- 
dition of  things  at  Jamestown,  threw  such  a  coldness 
over  the  enterprise  that  they  had  great  difficulty  in 
fitting  out  the  new  fleet.  Nevertheless,  March  2, 
1610,  Lord  Delaware  left  Cowes  with  three  ships  and 
one  hundred  and  fifty  emigrants,  chiefly  soldiers 
and  mechanics,  with  only  enough  "knights  and 
gentlemen  of  quality"  to  furnish  the  necessary 
leadership.1 

He  arrived  at  Point  Comfort  June  6 ;  and,  follow- 
ing Gates  up  the  river,  reached  Jamestown  June 
10.  His  first  work  was  to  cleanse  and  restore  the 
settlement,  after  which  he  sent  Robert  Tindall  to 
Cape  Charles  to  fish,  and  Argall  and  Somers  to  the 
Bermuda  Islands  for  a  supply  of  hog  meat.  Argall 
missed  his  way  and  went  north  to  the  fishing  banks 
of  Newfoundland,  while  Somers  died  in  the  Ber- 
mudas. 

Delaware  next  proceeded  to  settle  matters  with 
the  Indians.  The  policy  of  the  company  had  been 
to  treat  them  justly,  and  after  the  first  summer  the 
settlers  bought  Jamestown  Island  from  the  Paspa- 
heghs  for  some  copper,2  and  during  his  presidency 
Captain  Smith  purchased  the  territory  at  the 


1  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,   I.,   400-415;   Purchas, 
Pilgrimes,  IV.,  1734-1756;  True  Declaration  (Force,  Tracts,  III., 
No.  i.). 

2  True  Declaration  (Force,  Tracts,  III.,  No.  i.). 


i6u]  GLOOM   IN   VIRGINIA  69 

Falls.1  For  their  late  proceedings  the  Indians  had 
incurred  the  penalties  of  confiscation,  but  Lord 
Delaware  did  not  like  harsh  measures  and  sent  to 
Powhatan  to  propose  peace.  His  reply  was  that 
ere  he  would  consider  any  accommodation  Lord 
Delaware  must  send  him  a  coach  and  three  horses 
and  consent  to  confine  the  English  wholly  to  their 
island  territory.2  Lord  Delaware  at  once  ordered 
Gates  to  attack  and  drive  Powhatan 's  son  Pochins 
and  his  Indians  from  Kecoughtan ;  and  when  this 
was  done  he  erected  two  forts  at  the  mouth  of 
Hampton  River,  called  Charles  and  Henry,  about  a 
musket-shot  distance  from  Fort  Algernourne. 

No  precautions,  however,  could  prevent  the 
diseases  incident  to  the  climate,  and  during  the 
summer  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  persons 
perished  of  fever.  In  the  fall  Delaware  concen- 
trated the  settlers,  now  reduced  to  less  than  two 
hundred,  at  Jamestown  and  Algernourne  fort. 
Wishing  to  carry  out  his  instructions,  he  sent  an 
expedition  to  the  falls  of  James  River  to  search 
for  gold-mines ;  but,  like  its  predecessor,  it  proved  a 
failure,  and  many  of  the  men  were  killed  by  the 
Indians.3  Delaware  himself  fell  sick,  and  by  the 
spring  was  so  reduced  that  he  found  it  necessary  to 
leave  the  colony.  When  he  departed,  March  28, 
1611,  the  storehouse  contained  only  enough  supplies 

1  Spelman,  in  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I.,  483-488. 

2  Purchas,  Pilgrimes,  IV.,  1756. 

3  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I.,  490. 


70  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1611 

to  last  the  people  three  months  at  short  allowance; 
and  probably  another  "Starving  Time"  was  pre- 
vented only  by  the  arrival  of  Sir  Thomas  Dale, 
May  10,  I6U.1 

From  this  time  till  the  death  of  Lord  Delaware 
in  1618  the  government  was  administered  by  a 
succession  of  deputy  governors,  Sir  Thomas  Gates, 
Sir  Thomas  Dale,  Captain  George  Yardley,  and  Cap- 
tain Samuel  Argall.  For  five  years — 1611-1616 — 
of  this  period  the  ruling  spirit  was  Sir  Thomas  Dale, 
who  had  acquired  a  great  reputation  in  the  army  of 
the  Netherlands  as  a  disciplinarian.  His  policy  in 
Virginia  seemed  to  have  been  the  advancement  of 
the  company's  profit  at  the  expense  of  the  settlers, 
whom  he  pretended  to  regard  as  so  abandoned  that 
they  needed  the  extreme  of  martial  law.  In  1611 
he  restored  the  settlements  at  fort  Charles  and 
Henry;  in  1613  he  founded  Bermuda  Hundred  and 
Bermuda  City  (otherwise  called  Charles  Hundred 
and  Charles  City,  now  City  Point),  and  in  1614  he 
established  a  salt  factory  at  Smith  Island  near 
Cape  Charles.2 

In  laboring  at  these  works  the  men  were  treated 
like  galley-slaves  and  given  a  diet  "that  hogs 
refused  to  eat."  As  a  consequence  some  of  them 
ran  away,  and  Dale  set  the  Indians  to  catch  them, 
and  when  they  were  brought  back  he  burned 

1  Breife  Declaration. 

2  Hamor,  True  Discourse,  29-31;  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United 
States,  I.,  501-508. 


1614]  GLOOM   IN   VIRGINIA  71 

several  of  them  at  the  stake.  Some  attempted  to 
go  to  England  in  a  barge,  and  for  their  temerity 
were  shot  to  death,  hanged,  or  broken  on  the  wheel. 
Although  for  the  most  part  the  men  in  the  colony 
at  this  time  were  old  soldiers,  mechanics,  and  work- 
men, accustomed  to  labor,  we  are  told  that  among 
those  who  perished  through  Dale's  cruelty  were 
many  young  men  "of  Auncyent  Houses  and  born 
to  estates  of  £1000  by  the  year,"  l  persons  doubt- 
less attracted  to  Virginia  by  the  mere  love  of 
adventure,  but  included  by  Dale  in  the  common 
slavery.  Even  the  strenuous  Captain  John  Smith 
testified  concerning  Jeffrey  Abbott,  a  veteran  of 
the  wars  in  Ireland  and  the  Netherlands,  but  put  to 
death  by  Dale  for  mutiny,  that  "he  never  saw  in 
Virginia  a  more  sufficient  soldier,  (one)  less  tur- 
bulent, a  better  wit,  (one)  more  hardy  or  indus- 
trious, nor  any  more  forward  to  cut  them  off 
that  sought  to  abandon  the  country  or  wrong  the 
colony."  2 

To  better  purpose  Dale's  strong  hand  was  felt 
among  the  Indians  along  the  James  and  York 
rivers,  whom  he  visited  with  heavy  punishments. 
The  result  was  that  Powhatan's  appetite  for  war 
speedily  diminished ;  and  when  Captain  Argall,  in 
April,  1613,  by  a  shrewd  trick  got  possession  of 
Pocahontas,  he  offered  peace,  which  was  con- 
firmed in  April,  1614,  by  the  marriage  of  Poca- 

1  The  Tragical  Relation,  in  Neill,  Virginia  Company,  407-411. 

2  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  508. 


72  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1613 

hontas  to  a  leading  planter  named  John  Rolfe. 
The  ceremony  is  believed  to  have  been  performed 
at  Jamestown  by  Rev.  Richard  Buck,  who  came 
with  Gates  in  1610,  and  it  was  witnessed  by  several 
of  Powhatan's  kindred.1 

Dale  reached  out  beyond  the  territory  of  the 
London  Company,  and  hearing  that  the  French 
had  made  settlements  in  North  Virginia,  he  sent 
Captain  Samuel  Argall  in  July,  1613,  to  remove 
them.  Argall  reached  Mount  Desert  Island,  capt- 
ured the  settlement,  and  carried  some  of  the  French 
to  Jamestown,  where  as  soon  as  Dale  saw  them 
he  spoke  of  "nothing  but  ropes"  and  of  gallows  and 
hanging  "every  one  of  them."  To  make  the  work 
complete,  Argall  was  sent  out  on  a  second  expedition, 
and  this  time  he  reduced  the  French  settlements  at 
Port  Royal  and  St.  Croix  River.2  On  his  return 
voyage  to  Virginia  he  is  said  to  have  stopped  at  the 
Hudson  River,  where,  finding  a  Dutch  trading-post 
consisting  of  four  houses  on  Manhattan  Island,  he 
forced  the  Dutch  governor  likewise  to  submit  by  a 
"letter  sent  and  recorded"  in  Virginia.  Probably 
in  one  of  these  voyages  the  Delaware  River  was  also 
visited,  when  the  "atturnment  of  the  Indian  kings" 
was  made  to  the  king  of  England.3  It  appears  to 
have  received  its  present  name  from  Argall  in  i6io.4 

1  Hamor,  True  Discourse,   n. 

2  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I.,  709-725. 

3  A  Description  of  the  Province  of  New  Albion  (1648)  (Force, 
Tracts,  II.,  No.  vii.). 

4  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I.,  438. 


i6i4]  GLOOM    IN   VIRGINIA  73 

Towards  the  end  of  his  stay  in  Virginia,  Dale 
seemed  to  realize  that  some  change  must  be  made 
in  the  colony,  and  he  accordingly  abolished  the 
common  store  and  made  every  man  dependent  on 
his  own  labor.  But  the  exactions  he  imposed  upon 
the  settlers  in  return  made  it  certain  that  he  did 
not  desire  their  benefit  so  much  as  to  save  expense 
to  his  masters  in  England.  The  "  Farmers,"  as  he 
called  a  small  number  to  whom  he  gave  three  acres 
of  land  to  be  cultivated  in  their  own  way,  had  to 
pay  two  and  a  half  barrels  of  corn  per  acre  and 
give  thirty  days'  public  service  in  every  year;  while 
the  "  Laborers, "  constituting  the  majority  of  the 
colony,  had  to  slave  eleven  months,  and  were 
allowed  only  one  month  to  raise  corn  to  keep 
themselves  supplied  for  a  year.  The  inhabitants 
of  Bermuda  Hundred  counted  themselves  more 
fortunate  than  the  rest  because  thev  were  promised 
their  freedom  in  three  years  and  were  given  one 
month  in  the  year  and  one  day  in  the  week,  from 
May  till  harvest-time,  "to  get  their  sustenance," 
though  of  this  small  indulgence  they  were  deprived 
of  nearly  half  by  Dale.  Yet  even  this  slender 
appeal  to  private  interest  was  accompanied  with 
marked  improvement,  and  in  1614  Ralph  Hamor, 
Jr.,  Dale's  secretary  of  state,  wrote,  "When  our 
people  were  fed  out  of  the  common  store  and 
labored  jointly  in  the  manuring  of  ground  and 
planting  corn,  .  .  .  the  most  honest  of  them,  in  a 
general  business,  would  not  take  so  much  faithful 


74  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1614 

and  true  pains  in  a  week  as  now  he  will  do  in  a 
day."  l 

These  were  really  dark  days  for  Virginia,  and 
Gondomar,  the  Spanish  minister,  wrote  to  Philip  III. 
that  "here  in  London  this  colony  Virginia  is  in 
such  bad  repute  that  not  a  human  being  can  be 
found  to  go  there  in  any  way  whatever."  2  Some 
spies  of  King  Philip  were  captured  in  Virginia,  and 
Dale  was  much  concerned  lest  the  Spaniards  would 
attack  the  settlement,  but  the  Spanish  king  and 
his  council  thought  that  it  would  die  of  its  own  weak- 
ness, and  took  no  hostile  measure.3  In  England 
the  company  was  so  discouraged  that  many  with- 
drew their  subscriptions,  and  in  1615  a  lottery 
was  tried  as  a  last  resort  to  raise  money.4 

When  Dale  left  Virginia  (May,  1616)  the  people 
were  very  glad  to  get  rid  of  him,  and  not  more  than 
three  hundred  and  fifty-one  persons — men,  women, 
and  children — survived  altogether.5  Within  a  very 
short  time  the  cabins  which  he  erected  were  ready 
to  fall  and  the  palisades  could  not  keep  out  hogs. 
A  tract  of  land  called  the  "company's  garden" 
yielded  the  company  £300  annually,  but  this  was 
a  meagre  return  for  the  enormous  suffering  and 
sacrifice  of  life.6  Dale  took  Pocahontas  with  him 

1  Hamor,  True  Discourse,  17;  Breife  Declaration. 

*  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  II.,  739,  740. 

*  Ibid.,  657.  *  Ibid.,  760,  761. 
6  John  Rolfe,  Relation,  in  Va.  Historical  Register,  I.,  no. 

8  Virginia  Company,  Proceedings  (Va.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections, 
new  series,  VII.),  I.,  65. 


1617]  GLOOM   IN   VIRGINIA  75 

to  England,  and  Lady  Delaware  presented  her  at 
court,  and  her  portrait  engraved  by  the  distinguish- 
ed artist  Simon  de  Passe  was  a  popular  curiosity.1 
While  in  England  she  met  Captain  John  Smith,  and 
when  Smith  saluted  her  as  a  princess  Pocahontas 
insisted  on  calling  him  father  and  having  him  call 
her  his  child.2 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  in  the  cultivation  of 
tobacco,  called  "the  weed"  by  King  James,  a  new 
hope  for  Virginia  was  found.  Hamor  says  that 
John  Rolfe  began  to  plant  tobacco  in  1612  and  his 
example  was  soon  followed  generally.  Dale  frowned 
upon  the  new  occupation,  and  in  1616  commanded 
that  no  farmer  should  plant  tobacco  until  he  had 
put  down  two  acres  of  his  three-acre  farm  in  corn.3 
After  Dale's  departure  Captain  George  Yardley,  who 
acted  as  deputy  governor  for  a  year,  was  not  so  ex- 
acting. At  Jamestown,  in  the  spring  of  1617,  the 
market-place  and  even  the  narrow  margin  of  the 
streets  were  set  with  tobacco.  It  was  hard,  indeed, 
to  suppress  a  plant  which  brought  per  pound  in  the 
London  market  sometimes  as  much  as  $12  in  pres- 
ent money.  Yardley's  government  lasted  one  year, 
and  the  colony  "lived  in  peace  and  best  plentye 
that  ever  it  had  till  that  time."4 


1  Neill,  Virginia  Company,  98. 

2  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  533. 

3  Rolfe,  Relation,  in  Va.  Historical  Register,  I.,  108. 

4  Breife  Declaration. 


CHAPTER  V 

TRANSITION   OF  VIRGINIA 
(1617-1640) 

DURING  the  period  of  Dale's  administration 
the  constitution  of  the  London  Company  un- 
derwent a  change,  because  the  stockholders  grew 
restless  under  the  powers  of  the  treasurer  and 
council  and  applied  for  a  third  charter,  limiting 
all  important  business  to  a  quarterly  meeting  of  the 
whole  body. 

As  they  made  the  inclusion  of  the  Bermuda 
Islands  the  ostensible  object,  the  king  without 
difficulty  signed  the  paper,  March  12,  1612;  and 
thus  the  company  at  last  became  a  self-governing 
body.1  On  the  question  of  governing  the  colony 
it  soon  divided,  however,  into  the  court  party,  in 
favor  of  continuing  martial  law,  at  the  head  of 
which  was  Sir  Robert  Rich,  afterwards  earl  of 
Warwick ;  and  the  "  country, "  or  "  patriot  party,"  in 
favor  of  ending  the  system  of  servitude.  The  lat- 
ter party  was  led  by  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  who  had 
been  treasurer  ever  since  1607,  Sir  Edwin  Sandys, 

1  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  II.,  543  -5 54 ;  First 
Republic,  165-167. 

76 


77330 


CHART   OF  VIRGINIA 

SHOWING 
INDIAN  AND 

EARLY  ENGLISH  SETTLEMENTS 
IN    1632 


77°  30' 


77 J          Longitude          West          fr 


:-eeiiwicb       76J30 


1617]  TRANSITION   OF   VIRGINIA  77 

the  earl  of  Southampton,  Sir  John  Danvers,  and 
John  and  Nicholas  Ferrar.1  Of  the  two,  the  coun- 
try party  was  more  numerous,  and  when  the  joint 
stock  partnership  expired,  November  30,  1616,  they 
appointed  Captain  Samuel  Argall,  a  kinsman  of 
Treasurer  Smith,  to  be  deputy  governor  of  Virginia, 
with  instructions  to  give  every  settler  his  own  pri- 
vate dividend  of  fifty  acres  and  to  permit  him  to 
visit  in  England  if  he  chose.2 

Argall  sailed  to  Virginia  about  the  first  part  of 
April,  1617,  taking  with  him  Pocahontas's  husband, 
John  Rolfe,  as  secretary  of  state.  Pocahontas  was 
to  go  with  him,  but  she  sickened  and  died,  and 
was  buried  at  Gravesend  March  21,  1617.  She  left 
one  son  named  Thomas,  who  afterwards  resided  in 
Virginia,  where  he  has  many  descendants  at  this 
day.3  Argall,  though  in  a  subordinate  capacity  he 
had  been  very  useful  to  the  settlers,  proved  wholly 
unscrupulous  as  deputy  governor.  -Instead  of  obey- 
ing his  instructions  he  continued  the  common 
slavery  under  one  pretence  or  another,  and  even 
plundered  the  company  of  all  the  servants  and  live- 
stock belonging  to  the  "  common  garden."  He  cen- 
sured Yardley  for  permitting  the  settlers  to  grow  to- 
bacco, yet  brought  a  commission  for  himself  to  estab- 
lish a  private  tobacco  plantation,  "Argall's  Gift,"  and 
laid  off  two  other  plantations  of  the  same  nature. 

1  Brown,  English  Politics  in  Early  Virginia  History,  24-33. 

2  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  II, ,  775-779,  797~799- 

3  Ibid.,  967. 

VOL.    IV. 7 


78  ENGLAND   IN  AMERICA  [1618 

In  April,  1618,  the  company,  incensed  at  Ar- 
gall's  conduct,  despatched  the  Lord  Governor  Dela- 
ware with  orders  to  arrest  him  and  send  him  to 
England,  but  Delaware  died  on  the  way  over,  and 
Argall  continued  his  tyrannical  government  another 
year.  He  appropriated  the  servants  on  Lord  Dela- 
ware's private  estates,  and  when  Captain  Edward 
Brewster  protested,  tried  him  by  martial  law  and 
sentenced  him  to  death;  but  upon  the  petitions  of 
the  ministers  resident  in  the  colony  commuted  the 
punishment  to  perpetual  banishment.1 

Meanwhile,  Sandys,  who  had  a  large  share  in 
draughting  the  second  and  third  charters,  was  as- 
sociated with  Sir  Thomas  Smith  in  preparing  a 
document  which  has  been  called  the  "  Magna  Char- 
ta  of  America."  November  13,  1618,  the  com- 
pany granted  to  the  residents  of  Virginia  the 
"  Great  charter  or  commission  of  priviledges,  orders, 
and  laws  " ;  and  in  January,  1619,  Sir  George  Yardley 
was  sent  as  "  governor  and  captain -general,"  with 
full  instructions  to  put  the  new  government  into 
operation.  He  had  also  orders  to  arrest  Argall,  but, 
warned  by  Lord  Rich,  Argall  fled  from  the  colony 
before  Yardley  arrived.  Argall  left  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  London  Company  in  Virginia,  as 
the  fruit  of  twelve  years'  labor  and  an  expenditure 
of  money  representing  $2,000,000,  but  four  hundred 
settlers  inhabiting  some  broken-down  settlements. 

1  Virginia  Company,  Proceedings  (Va  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections, 
new  series,  VII.,  VIII.),  I.,  65,  II.,  198. 


1619]  TRANSITION   OF   VIRGINIA  79 

The  plantations  of  the  private  associations — 
Southampton  Hundred,  Martin  Hundred,  etc. — were 
in  a  flourishing  condition,  and  the  settlers  upon  them 
numbered  upward  of  six  hundred  persons.1 

Sir  George  Yardley  arrived  in  Virginia  April  19, 
1619,  and  made  known  the  intentions  of  the  Lon- 
don Company  that  there  was  to  be  an  end  of  mar- 
tial law  and  communism.  Every  settler  who  had 
come  at  his  own  charge  before  the  departure  of 
Sir  Thomas  Dale  in  April,  1616,  was  to  have  one 
hundred  acres  "upon  the  first  division,"  to  be 
afterwards  augmented  by  another  hundred  acres, 
and  as  much  more  for  every  share  of  stock  (£12  6s.) 
actually  paid  by  him.  Every  one  imported  by  the 
company  within  the  same  period  was,  after  the 
expiration  of  his  service,  to  have  one  hundred 
acres;  while  settlers  who  came  at  their  own  ex- 
pense, after  April,  1616,  were  to  receive  fifty  acres 
apiece.  In  order  to  relieve  the  inhabitants  from 
taxes  "as  much  as  may  be,"  lands  were  to  be  laid 
out  for  the  support  of  the  governor  and  other 
officers,  to  be  tilled  by  servants  sent  over  for  that 
purpose.  Four  corporations  were  to  be  created, 
with  Kecoughtan,  Jamestown,  Charles  City,  and 
Henrico  as  capital  cities  in  each,  respectively;  and 
it  was  announced  that  thereafter  the  people  of 
the  colony  were  to  share  with  the  company  in  the 
making  of  laws.2 

1  Discourse  of  the  Old  Company,  in  Va.  Magazine,  L,  157. 

2  Instructions  to  Yardley,  1618,  ibid.,  II.,  154-165. 


8o  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1619 

Accordingly,  July  30,  1619,  the  first  legislative 
assembly  that  ever  convened  on  the  American  con- 
tinent met  in  the  church  at  Jamestown.  It  con- 
sisted of  the  governor,  six  councillors,  and  twenty 
burgesses,  two  from  each  of  ten  plantations.  The 
delegates  from  Brandon,  Captain  John  Martin's 
plantation,  were  not  seated,  because  of  a  particular 
clause  in  his  patent  exempting  it  from  colonial 
authority.  The  assembly,  after  a  prayer  from  Rev. 
Richard  Buck,  of  Jamestown,  sat  six  days  and  did 
a  great  deal  of  work.  Petitions  were  addressed  to 
the  company  in  England  for  permission  to  change 
"the  savage  name  of  Kecoughtan, "  for  workmen 
to  erect  a  "university  and  college,"  and  for  grant- 
ing the  girls  and  boys  of  all  the  old  planters  a 
share  of  land  each,  "because  that  in  a  new  planta- 
tion it  is  not  known  whether  man  or  woman  be  the 
more  necessary."  Laws  were  made  against  idleness, 
drunkenness,  gaming,  and  other  misdemeanors,  but 
the  death  penalty  was  prescribed  only  in  case  of 
such  "traitors  to  the  colony"  as  sold  fire-arms  to 
the  Indians.  To  prevent  extravagance  in  dress 
parish  taxes  were  "cessed"  according  to  apparel — 
"if  he  be  unmarried,  according  to  his  own  apparel; 
if  he  be  married,  according  to  his  own  and  his  wife's 
or  either  of  their  apparel."  Statutes  were  also 
passed  for  encouraging  agriculture  and  for  settling 
church  discipline  according  to  the  rules  of  the 
church  of  England.1 

1  Assembly  Journal,  1619,  in  Va.  State  Senate  Documents,  1874. 


1619]  TRANSITION   OF   VIRGINIA  81 

Another  significant  event  during  this  memorable 
year  was  the  introduction  of  negro  slavery  into 
Virginia.  A  Dutch  ship  arrived  at  Jamestown  in 
August,  1619,  with  some  negroes,  of  whom  twenty 
were  sold  to  the  planters.1 

A  third  event  was  the  arrival  of  a  ship  from 
England  with  ninety  " young  maidens"  to  be  sold 
to  the  settlers  for  wives,  at  the  cost  of  their  trans- 
portation— viz.,  one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds  of 
tobacco  (equivalent  to  $500  in  present  currency).2 
Cargoes  of  this  interesting  merchandise  continued  to 
arrive  for  many  years. 

It  was  fortunate  that  with  the  arrival  of  Yard  ley 
the  supervision  of  Virginia  affairs  in  England  passed 
into  hands  most  interested  in  colonial  welfare.  Sir 
Thomas  Smith  had  been  treasurer  or  president  of 
the  company  for  twelve  years ;  but  as  he  was  also 
president  of  four  other  companies  some  thought 
that  he  did  not  give  the  proper  attention  to  Virginia 
matters.  For  this  reason,  and  because  he  was 
considered  responsible  for  the  selection  of  Argall, 
the  leaders  of  his  party  determined  to  elect  a  new 
treasurer;  and  a  private  quarrel  between  Smith 
and  the  head  of  the  court  party,  Lord  Rich,  helped 
matters  to  this  end.  To  gratify  a  temporary  spleen 
against  Smith,  Lord  Rich  consented  to  vote  for  Sir 
Edwin  Sandys,  and  April  28,  1619,  he  was  accord - 


1  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  541. 

2  Virginia    Company,    Proceedings    (Va.    Hist.    Soc.,    Collec- 
tions, new  series,  VII.),  I.,  67. 


82  ENGLAND   IN  AMERICA  [1619 

ingly  elected  treasurer  with  John  Ferrar  as  his 
deputy.  Smith  was  greatly  piqued,  abandoned 
his  old  friends,  and  soon  after  began  to  act  with 
Rich  in  opposition  to  Sandys  and  his  group  of 
supporters.1 

Sandys  threw  himself  into  his  work  with  great 
ardor,  and  scarcely  a  month  passed  that  a  ship  did 
not  leave  England  loaded  with  emigrants  and  cattle 
for  Virginia.  At  the  end  of  the  year  the  company 
would  have  elected  him  again  but  for  the  inter- 
ference of  King  James,  who  regarded  him  as  the 
head  of  the  party  in  Parliament  opposed  to  his 
prerogative.  He  sent  word  to  "  choose  the  devil  if 
you  will,  but  not  Sir  Edwin  Sandys."  Thereupon 
Sandys  stepped  aside  and  the  earl  of  Southampton, 
who  agreed  with  him  in  all  his  views,  was  appointed 
and  kept  in  office  till  the  company's  dissolution ;  and 
nearly  all  this  time  Nicholas  Ferrar,  brother  of 
John,  acted  as  deputy  to  the  earl.2  The  king, 
however,  was  no  better  satisfied,  and  Count  Gon- 
domar,  the  Spanish  minister,  took  advantage  of 
the  state  of  things  to  tell  James  that  he  had  "  better 
look  to  the  Virginia  courts  which  were  kept  at 
Ferrar's  house,  where  too  many  of  his  nobility  and 
gentry  resorted  to  accompany  the  popular  Lord 
Southampton  and/  the  dangerous  Sandys.  He  would 


1  Brown,  Genesis  of  the   United  States,   II.,    1014;   Bradford, 
Plymouth,  47. 

2  Virginia  Company,  Proceedings  (Va.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections, 
new  series,  VII.),  I.,  78. 


1621]  TRANSITION    OF   VIRGINIA  83 

find  in  the  end  these  meetings  would  prove  a  semi- 
nary or  a  seditious  parliament.'"  1  These  words,  it  is 
said,  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the  king,  always 
jealous  for  his  prerogatives. 

For  two  years,  however,  the  crown  stayed  its 
hand  and  the  affairs  of  Virginia  greatly  improved. 
Swarms  of  emigrants  went  out  and  many  new 
plantations  sprang  up  in  the  Accomack  Peninsula 
and  on  both  sides  of  the  James.  The  most  striking 
feature  of  these  settlements  was  the  steady  growth 
of  the  tobacco  trade.  In  1619  twenty  thousand 
pounds  were  exported,  and  in  1622  sixty  thousand 
pounds.  This  increasing  importation  excited  the 
covetousness  of  the  king,  as  well  as  the  jealousy  of 
the  Spanish  government,  whose  West  India  tobac- 
co had  hitherto  monopolized  the  London  market. 
Directly  contrary  to  the  provision  of  the  charter 
which  exempted  tobacco  from  any  duty  except 
five  per  cent.,  the  king  in  1619  levied  an  exaction 
of  one  shilling  a  pound,  equal  to  twenty  per  cent. 
The  London  Company  submitted  on  condition  that 
the  raising  of  tobacco  in  England  should  be  pro- 
hibited, which  was  granted.  In  1620  a  royal 
proclamation  limited  the  importation  of  tobacco 
from  Virginia  and  the  Bermuda  Islands  to  fifty- 
five  thousand  pounds,  whereupon  the  whole  of  the 
Virginia  crop  for  that  year  was  transported  to 
Flushing  and  sold  in  Holland.  As  this  deprived  the 
king  of  his  revenue,  the  Privy  Council  issued  an 

1  Packard,  Ferr ar,  11. 


84  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1619 

order  in  1621  compelling  the  company  to  bring 
all  their  tobacco  into  England.1 

Nevertheless,  these  disturbances  did  not  interfere 
with  the  prosperity  of  the  settlers.  Large  fortunes 
were  accumulated  in  a  year  or  two  by  scores  of 
planters;2  and  soon  in  the  place  of  the  old  log- 
cabins  arose  framed  buildings  better  than  many  in 
England.  Lands  were  laid  out  for  a  free  school  at 
Charles  City  (now  City  Point)  and  for  a  university 
and  college  at  Henrico  (Dutch  Gap) .  Monthly  courts 
were  held  in  every  settlement,  and  there  were  large 
crops  of  corn  and  great  numbers  of  cattle,  swine,  and 
poultry.  A  contemporary  writer  states  that  "the 
plenty  of  those  times,  unlike  the  old  days  of  death 
and  confusion,  was  such  that  every  man  gave  free 
entertainment  to  friends  and  strangers."3 

This  prosperity  is  marred  by  a  story  of  heart- 
rending sickness  and  suffering.  An  extraordinary 
mortality  due  to  imported  epidemics,  and  diseases 
of  the  climate  for  which  in  these  days  we  have  found 
a  remedy  in  quinine,  slew  the  new-comers  by 
hundreds.  One  thousand  people  were  in  Virginia 
at  Easter,  1619,  and  to  this  number  three  thousand 
five  hundred  and  seventy  more  were  added  during 
the  next  three  years,4  yet  only  one  thousand  two 
hundred  and  forty  were  resident  in  the  colony  on 


1  Discourse  of  the  Old  Company,  in  Va.  Magazine,  I.,  161. 

2  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.) ,  562. 

3  Breife  Declaration;  Neill,  Virginia  Company,  395-406. 

4  Neill,  Virginia  Company,  334. 


1622]  TRANSITION   OF   VIRGINIA  85 

Good  Friday,  March  22,  1622,  ad  ay  when  the  hor- 
rors of  an  Indian  massacre  reduced  the  number  to 
eight  hundred  and  ninety-four.1 

Since  1614,  when  Pocahontas  married  John 
Rolfe,  peace  with  the  Indians  continued  unin- 
terruptedly, except  for  a  short  time  in  1617,  when 
there  was  an  outbreak  of  the  Chickahominies, 
speedily  suppressed  by  Deputy  Governor  Yardley. 
In  April,  1618,  Powhatan  died,2  and  the  chief  power 
was  wielded  by  a  brother,  Opechancanough,  at 
whose  instance  the  savages,  at  "  the  taking  up  of 
Powhatan 's  bones"  in  1621,  formed  a  plot  for 
exterminating  the  English.  Of  this  danger  Yardley 
received  some  information,  and  he  promptly  forti- 
fied the  plantations,  but  Opechancanough  pro- 
fessed friendship.  Under  Sir  Francis  Wyatt  for  some 
months  everything  went  on  quietly ;  but  about  the 
middle  of  March,  1622,  a  noted  Indian  chief,  called 
Nemmattanow,  or  Jack  o'  the  Feather,  slew  a  white 
man  and  was  slain  in  retaliation.  Wyatt  was 
alarmed,  but  Opechancanough  assured  him  that 
"he  held  the  peace  so  firme  that  the  sky  should 
fall  ere  he  dissolved  it,"  so  that  the  settlers  again 
"fed  the  Indians  at  their  tables  and  lodged  them 
in  their  bedchambers."  3 

Then   like   lightning  from   a  clear  sky  fell  the 


1  Brown,  First  Republic,  464,  467. 
*  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  539. 

3  William  and  Mary  Quarterly,  IX.,  203-214;  Neill,  Virginia 
Company,  293,  307-321;  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  572-594. 


86  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1622 

massacre  upon  the  unsuspecting  settlers.  The 
blow  was  terrible  to  the  colonists:  the  Indians, 
besides  killing  many  of  the  inhabitants,  burned 
many  houses  and  destroyed  a  great  quantity  of 
stock:  At  first  the  settlers  were  panic-stricken,  but 
rage  succeeded  fear.  They  divided  into  squads, 
and  carried  fire  and  sword  into  the  Indian  villages 
along  the  James  and  the  York.  In  a  little  while 
the  success  of  the  English  was  so  complete  that  they 
were  able  to  give  their  time  wholly  to  their  crops 
and  to  rebuilding  their  houses.1 

To  the  company  the  blow  was  a  fatal  one,  though 
it  did  not  manifest  its  results  immediately.  So 
far  was  the  massacre  from  affecting  the  confidence 
of  the  public  in  Southampton  and  his  friends  at 
the  head  of  the  company  that  eight  hundred  good 
settlers  went  to  Virginia  during  the  year  1622,  and 
John  Smith  wrote,  "Had  I  meanes  I  might  have 
choice  of  ten  thousand  that  would  gladly  go."  2  But 
during  the  summer  the  members  of  the  company 
were  entangled  in  a  dispute,  of  which  advantage  was 
taken  by  their  enemies  everywhere.  At  the  sug- 
gestion of  the  crafty  earl  of  Middlesex,  the  lord  high 
treasurer  of  England,  they  were  induced  to  apply 
to  the  king  for  a  monopoly  of  the  sale  of  tobacco  in 
England;  and  it  was  granted  on  two  conditions — 
viz.,  that  they  should  pay  the  king  £20,000  (sup- 
posed to  be  the  value  of  a  third  of  the  total  crop  of 

1  Neill,  Virginia  Company,  364,  366. 

2  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  263. 


1623]  TRANSITION   OF   VIRGINIA  87 

Virginia  tobacco)  and  import  at  least  forty  thousand 
pounds  weight  of  Spanish  tobacco.  Though  this 
last  was  a  condition  demanded  by  the  king  doubt- 
less to  placate  the  Spanish  court,  with  whom  he 
was  negotiating  for  the  marriage  of  his  son  Charles 
to  the  infanta,  the  contract  on  the  whole  was  dis- 
pleasing to  Count  Gondomar,  the  Spanish  minister. 
He  fomented  dissensions  in  the  company  over  the 
details,  and  Middlesex,  the  patron  of  the  measure, 
being  a  great  favorer  of  the  Spanish  match,  changed 
sides  upon  his  own  proposition.1 

In  April,  1623,  Alderman  Robert  Johnson,  deputy 
to  Sir  Thomas  Smith  during  the  time  of  his  govern- 
ment, brought  a  petition  to  the  king  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  commission  in  England  to  inquire  into 
the  condition  of  the  colony,  which  he  declared  was 
in  danger  of  destruction  by  reason  of  "  dissensions 
among  ourselves  and  the  massacre  and  hostility  of 
the  natives."  This  petition  was  followed  by  a 
scandalous  paper,  called  The  Unmasking  of  Vir- 
ginia, presented  to  the  king  by  another  tool  of 
Count  Gondomar,  one  Captain  Nathaniel  Butler.2 
The  company  had  already  offended  the  king,  and 
these  new  developments  afforded  him  all  the  excuse 
that  he  wanted  for  taking  extreme  measures.  He 
first  attempted  to  cow  the  company  into  a  "  volun- 
tary "  surrender  by  seizing  their  books  and  arresting 
their  leading  members.  When  this  did  not  avail, 

1  Discourse  of  the  Old  Company,  in  Va.  Magazine,  I.,  291-293 

2  Neill,  Virginia  Company,  395-407. 


SS  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1623 

the  Privy  Council,  November  3,  1623,  appointed  a 
commission  to  proceed  to  Virginia  and  make  a  re- 
port upon  which  judicial  proceedings  might  be  had. 
The  company  fought  desperately,  and  in  April,  1624, 
appealed  to  Parliament,  but  King  James  forbade  the 
Commons  to  interfere. 

In  June,  1624,  the  expected  paper  from  Virginia 
came  to  hand,  and  the  cause  was  argued  the  same 
month  at  Trinity  term  on  a  writ  of  quo  warranter 
before  Chief -Justice  James  Ley  of  the  King's  Bench. 
The  legal  status  of  the  company  was  unfavorable, 
for  it  was  in  a  hopeless  tangle,  and  the  death  record 
in  the  colony  was  an  appalling  fact.  When,  there- 
fore, the  attorney-general,  Coventry,  attacked  the 
company  for  mismanagement,  even  an  impartial 
tribune  might  have  quashed  the  charter.  But  the 
case  was  not  permitted  to  be  decided  on  its  merits. 
The  company  made  a  mistake  in  pleading,  which 
was  taken  advantage  of  by  Coventry,  and  on  this 
ground  the  patent  was  voided  the  last  day  of  the 
term  (June  16,  I624).1 

Thus  perished  the  great  London  Company,  which 
in  settling  Virginia  expended  upward  of  £200,000 
(equal  to  $5,000,000  in  present  currency)  and 
sent  more  than  fourteen  thousand  emigrants.  It 
received  back  from  Virginia  but  a  small  part  of 
the  money  it  invested,  and  of  all  the  emigrants 
whom  it  sent  over,  and  their  children,  only  one 

1  Peckard,  Ferrar,  145;  Discourse  of  the  Old  Company,  in  Va. 
Magazine,  I.,  297. 


1624]  TRANSITION   OF   VIRGINIA  89 

thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven  survived 
the  charter.  The  heavy  cost  of  the  settlement  was 
not  a  loss,  for  it  secured  to  England  a  fifth  king- 
dom and  planted  in  the  New  World  the  germs  of 
civil  liberty.  In  this  service  the  company  did  not 
escape  the  troubles  incident  to  the  mercenary  pur- 
pose of  a  joint-stock  partnership,  yet  it  assumed 
a  national  and  patriotic  character,  which  entitles 
it  to  be  considered  the  greatest  and  noblest  associa- 
tion ever  organized  by  the  English  people.1  How- 
ever unjust  the  measures  taken  by  King  James  to 
overthrow  the  London  Company,  the  incident  was 
fortunate  for  the  inhabitants  of  Virginia.  The 
colony  had  reached  a  stage  of  development  which 
needed  no  longer  the  supporting  hand  of  a  distant 
corporation  created  for  profit. 

In  Virginia,  sympathy  with  the  company  was  so 
openly  manifested  that  the  Governor's  council  or- 
dered their  clerk,  Edward  Sharpless,  to  lose  his  ears2 
for  daring  to  give  King  James's  commissioners  copies 
of  certain  of  their  papers;  and  in  January,  1624,  a 
protest,  called  The  Tragical  Relation,  was  addressed 
to  the  king  by  the  General  Assembly,  denouncing 
the  administration  of  Sir  Thomas  Smith  and  his 
faction  and  extolling  that  of  Sandys  and  Southamp- 
ton. The  sufferings  of  the  colony  under  the 
former  were  vigorously  painted,  and  they  ended 

1  Brown,  First  Republic,  615. 

*  Cat.  of  State  Pap.,  Col,  1574-1660,  74;  Neill,  Virginia 
Company,  407. 


go  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1624 

by  saying,  "And  rather  (than)  to  be  reduced  to 
live  under  the  like  government  we  desire  his  ma^y1 
commissioners  may  be  sent  over  wth  authoritie  to 
hang  us." 

Although  Wyatt  cordially  joined  in  these  protests, 
and  was  a  most  popular  governor,  the  General 
Assembly  about  the  same  time  passed  an  act1 
in  the  following  words:  "The  governor  shall  not 
lay  any  taxes  or  ympositions  upon  the  colony, 
their  lands  or  commodities,  other  way  than  by 
authority  of  the  General  Assembly  to  be  levied  and 
ymployed  as  the  said  assembly  shall  appoynt." 
By  this  act  Virginia  formally  asserted  the  indis- 
soluble connection  of  taxation  and  representation. 

The  next  step  was  to  frame  a  government  which 
would  correspond  to  the  new  relations  of  the  colony. 
June  24,  1624,  a  few  days  after  the  decision  of 
Chief -Justice  Ley,  the  king  appointed  a  commission 
of  sixteen  persons,  among  whom  were  Sir  Thomas 
Smith  and  other  opponents  of  Sandys  and  South- 
ampton, to  take  charge,  temporarily,  of  Virginia 
affairs;  and  (July  15)  he  enlarged  this  commission 
by  forty  more  members.  On  their  advice  he 
issued,  August  26,  1624,  authority  to  Sir  Francis 
Wyatt,  governor,  and  twelve  others  in  Virginia,  as 
councillors  to  conduct  the  government  of  the  colony, 
under  such  instructions  as  they  might  receive  from 
him  or  them. 

In  these  orders  it  is  expressly  stated  that  the 

1  Hening,  Statutes.,  I.,  124. 


1625]  TRANSITION   OF  VIRGINIA  91 

king's  intention  was  not  to  disturb  the  interest  of 
either  planter  or  adventurer;  while  their  context 
makes  it  clear  that  he  proposed  to  avoid  "the 
popularness"  of  the  former  government  and  to 
revive  the  charter  of  1606  with  some  amendments. 
King  James  died  March  27,  1625,  and  by  his  death 
this  commission  for  Virginia  affairs  expired.1 

Charles  I.  had  all  the  arbitrary  notions  of  his 
father,  but  fortunately  he  was  tinder  personal 
obligations  to  Sir  Edwin  Sandys  and  Nicholas 
Ferrar,  Jr.,  and  for  their  sake  was  willing  to  be 
liberal  in  his  dealing  with  the  colonists.2  Hence, 
soon  after  his  father's  death,  he  dismissed  the 
former  royal  commissioners  and  intrusted  affairs 
relating  to  Virginia  to  a  committee  of  the  Privy 
Council,  who  ignored  the  Smith  party  and  called 
the  Sandys  party  into  consultation.3  These  last 
presented  a  paper  in  April,  1625,  called  The  Dis- 
course of  the  Old  Company,  in  which  they  reviewed 
fully  the  history  of  the  charter  and  petitioned  to  be 
reincorporated .  Charles  was  not  unwilling  to  grant 
the  request,  and  in  a  proclamation  dated  May  13, 
1625,  he  avowed  that  he  had  come  to  the  same 
opinion  as  his  father,  and  intended  to  have  a  "  royal 
council  in  England  and  another  in  Virginia,  but  not 
to  impeach  the  interest  of  any  adventurer  or  planter 
in  Virginia." 

1  Cat.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1674,  p.  64,  1574-1660,  p.  62. 

2  Brown,  English  Politics  in  Early  Virginia  History,  89. 
8  Brown,  First  Republic,  640,  641. 


92  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1625 

Still  ignorant  of  the  death  of  King  James,  Gov- 
ernor Sir  Francis  Wyatt  and  his  council,  together 
with  representatives  from  the  plantations  informally 
called,  sent  George  Yardley  to  England  with  a  peti- 
tion, dated  June  15,  1625,  that  they  be  permitted 
the  right  of  a  general  assembly,  that  worthy  emi- 
grants be  encouraged,  and  that  none  of  the  old  fac- 
tion of  Sir  Thomas  Smith  and  Alderman  Johnson 
have  a  part  in  the  administration;  "for  rather  than 
endure  the  government  of  these  men  they  were 
resolved  to  seek  the  farthest  part  of  the  world." 

Yardley  reached  England  in  October;  and  the 
king,  when  informed  of  Wyatt 's  desire  to  resign 
the  government  of  Virginia  on  account  of  his  pri- 
vate affairs,  issued  a  commission,  dated  April  16, 
1626,  renewing  the  authority  of  the  council  in 
Virginia  and  appointing  Yardley  governor.1  The 
latter  returned  to  Virginia,  but  died  in  1627.  After 
his  death  the  king  sent  directions  to  Acting  Governor 
Francis  West  to  summon  a  general  assembly;  and 
March  26,  1628,  after  an  interval  of  four  years,  the 
regular  law-making  body  again  assembled  at  James- 
town, an  event  second  only  in  importance  to  the 
original  meeting  in  i6ig.2 

Other  matters  besides  the  form  of  government 
pressed  upon  the  attention  of  the  settlers.  Tobacco 
entered  more  and  more  into  the  life  of  the  colony, 
and  the  crop  in  the  year  1628  amounted  to  upward 

1  Cal.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  pp.  73,  74,  79. 

2  Ibid.,  86,  88;  Neill,  Virginia  Carolorum,  55. 


1629]  TRANSITION   OF   VIRGINIA  93 

of  five  hundred  thousand  pounds.1  King  Charles 
took  the  ground  of  Sandys  and  Southampton,  that 
the  large  production  was  only  temporary,  and,  like 
his  father,  subjected  tobacco  in  England  to  high 
duties  and  monopoly.  He  urged  a  varied  planting 
and  the  making  of  pitch  and  tar,  pipe-staves,  pot- 
ashes, iron,  and  bay-salt,  and  warned  the  planters 
against  "  building  their  plantation  wholly  on  smoke." 
It  was  observed,  however,  that  Charles  was  receiving 
a  large  sum  of  money  from  customs  on  tobacco,2 
and  it  was  not  likely  that  his  advice  would  be  taken 
while  the  price  was  35.  6d.  a  pound.  Indeed,  it  was 
chiefly  under  the  stimulus  of  the  culture  of  tobacco 
that  the  population  of  the  colony  rose  from  eight 
hundred  and  ninety  -  four,  after  the  massacre  in 
1622,  to  about  three  thousand  in  i62g.3 

In  March,  1629,  Captain  West  went  back  to 
England,  and  a  new  commission  was  issued  to  Sir 
John  Harvey  as  governor.4  He  did  not  come  to 
the  colony  till  the  next  year,  and  in  the  interval 
Dr.  John  Pott  acted  as  his  deputy.  At  the  assembly 
called  by  Pott  in  October,  1629,  the  growth  of  the 
colony  was  represented  by  twenty-three  settlements 
as  against  eleven  ten  years  before.  As  in  England, 
there  were  two  branches  of  the  law-making  body,  a 

1  Hening,  Statutes,  I.,  134. 

2  In  1624  the  crop  was  three  hundred  thousand  pounds,  the 
total    importations    from  Virginia,    Bermuda,   and    Spain   four 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pounds,  and  the  profit  in  customs 
to  the  crown  was  £93,350. 

3  Cat.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  p.  89.  4  Ibid.,  88. 

VOL.    IV. — 8 


94  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1630 

House  of  Burgesses,  made  up  of  the  representatives 
of  the  people,  and  an  upper  house  consisting  of  the 
governor  and  council.  In  the  constitution  of  the 
popular  branch  there  was  no  fixed  number  of 
delegates,  but  each  settlement  had  as  many  as  it 
chose  to  pay  the  expenses  of,  a  custom  which  pre- 
vailed until  1660,  when  the  number  of  burgesses 
was  limited  to  two  members  for  each  county  and 
one  member  for  Jamestown.1 

In  March,  1630,  Harvey  arrived,  and  Pott's 
former  dignity  as  governor  did  not  save  him  from 
a  mortifying  experience.  The  council  was  not  only 
an  upper  house  of  legislation,  but  the  supreme 
court  of  the  colony,  and  in  July,  1630,  Pott  was 
arraigned  before  this  tribunal  for  stealing  cattle,  and 
declared  guilty.  Perhaps  Harvey  realized  that  in- 
justice was  done,  for  he  suspended  the  sentence,  and 
on  petition  to  the  king  the  case  was  re-examined 
in  England  by  the  commissioners  for  Virginia,  who 
decided  that  "  condemning  Pott  of  felony  was  very 
rigorous  if  not  erroneous."  2 

The  year  1630  was  the  beginning  of  a  general 
movement  of  emigration  northward,  and  in  Octo- 
ber Chiskiack,  an  Indian  district  on  the  south  side 
of  the  York,  about  twenty-seven  miles  below  the 
forks  of  the  river  where  Opechancanough  resided, 
was  occupied  in  force.  So  rapid  was  the  course 
of  population  that  in  less  than  two  years  this  first 

1  Hening,  Statutes,  I.,  147,  II.,  20. 

3  Cat.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  p.  133. 


1631]  TRANSITION   OF   VIRGINIA  95 

settlement  upon  the  York  was  divided  into  Chis- 
kiack  and  York.  One  year  after  Chiskiack  was 
settled,  Kent  Island  in  Chesapeake  Bay  was  occu- 
pied by  a  company  under  William  Claiborne,  the 
secretary  of  state;  and  in  1632  Middle  Plantation 
(afterwards  Williamsburg)  was  laid  out  and  de- 
fended by  a  line  of  palisades  from  tide -water  to 
tide- water.1 

Meanwhile,  the  old  colonial  parties  did  not  cease 
to  strive  with  one  another  in  England.  Harvey 
had  been  appointed  by  the  vacillating  Charles  to 
please  the  former  court  party,  but  during  the 
quarrel  with  his  Parliament  over  the  Petition  of 
Right  he  became  anxious  again  to  conciliate  the 
colonists  and  the  members  of  the  old  company ;  and 
in  May,  1631,  he  appointed2  a  new  commission, 
consisting  of  the  earls  of  Dorset  and  Danby,  Sir 
John  Danvers,  Sir  Dudley  Digges,  John  Ferrar,  Sir 
Francis  Wyatt,  and  others,  to  advise  him  upon 
"some  course  for  establishing  the  advancement  of 
the  plantation  of  Virginia."  This  commission  had 
many  consultations,  and  unanimously  resolved  to 
recommend  to  the  king  the  renewal  of  the  charter 
of  1612  with  all  its  former  privileges — except  the 
form  of  government,  which  was  to  be  exercised  by 
the  king  through  a  council  in  London  and  a  gov- 
ernor and  council  in  Virginia,  both  appointed  by  him. 

1  Hening,  Statutes,  I.,  208,  257;  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections, 
4th  series,  IX.,  in. 

2  Cal.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  p.  130. 


96  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1632 

In  June,  1632,  Charles  I.  so  vacillated  as  to 
grant  Maryland,  within  the  bounds  of  "  their  ancient 
territories,"  to  Lord  Baltimore,  regardless  of  the 
protest  of  the  Virginians;  and  April  28,  1634,  he 
revoked  the  liberal  commission  of  1631,  and  ap- 
pointed another,  called  "  the  Commission  for  Foreign 
Plantations,"  composed  almost  entirely  of  opponents 
of  the  popular  course  of  government,  with  William 
Laud,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  at  the  head.  This 
commission  had  power  to  "  make  laws  and  orders  for 
government  of  English  colonies  planted  in  foreign 
parts,  to  remove  governors  and  require  an  account 
of  their  government,  to  appoint  judges  and  magis- 
trates, to  establish  courts,  to  amend  all  charters 
and  patents,  and  to  revoke  those  surreptitiously 
and  unduly  obtained."  * 

Harvey's  conduct  in  Virginia  reflected  the  views 
of  the  court  party  in  England.  He  offended  his 
council  by  acting  in  important  matters  without 
their  consent,  contrary  to  his  instructions;  and 
showed  in  many  ways  that  he  was  a  friend  of  the 
persons  in  England  who  were  trying  to  make  a 
monopoly  of  the  tobacco  trade.  He  attempted  to 
lay  taxes,  but  the  assembly,  in  February,  1632, 
re-enacted  the  law  of  1624  asserting  their  exclusive 
authority  over  the  subject.2  At  the  head  of  the 
opposition  to  Harvey  was  William  Claiborne,  the 
secretary  of  state,  who  opposed  Lord  Baltimore's 

1  Cat.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  pp.  136,  177. 

2  Herring,  Statutes,  I.,  171. 


1635]  TRANSITION   OF   VIRGINIA  97 

claim  to  Maryland,  and,  in  consequence,  was  in  the 
latter  part  of  1634  turned  out  of  office  by  Harvey, 
to  make  way  for  Richard  Kempe,  one  of  Lord 
Baltimore's  friends. 

The  people  of  Virginia  began  in  resentment  to 
draw  together  in  little  groups,  and  talked  of  asking 
for  the  removal  of  the  governor;  and  matters  came 
to  a  crisis  in  April,  1635,  when  Harvey  suppressed 
a  petition  addressed  to  the  king  by  the  assembly 
regarding  the  tobacco  contract,  and  justified  an 
attack  by  Lord  Baltimore's  men  upon  a  pinnace  of 
Claiborne  engaged  in  the  fur  trade  from  Kent 
Island.  At  York,  in  April,  1635,  a  meeting  of  pro- 
test was  held  at  the  house  of  William  Warren. 

Harvey  was  enraged  at  the  proceeding  and  caused 
the  leaders  to  be  arrested.  Then  he  called  a  council 
at  Jamestown,  and  the  scenes  in  the  council  chamber 
are  interestingly  described  in  contemporary  letters. 
Harvey  demanded  the  execution  of  martial  law 
upon  the  prisoners,  and  when  the  council  held  back 
he  flew  into  a  passion  and  attempted  to  arrest  George 
Menifie,  one  of  the  members,  for  high- treason.  Cap- 
tain John  Utie  and  Captain  Samuel  Matthews  re- 
torted by  making  a  similar  charge  against  Harvey, 
and  he  was  arrested  by  the  council,  and  confined  at 
the  house  of  Captain  William  Brocas.  Then  the 
council  elected  Captain  John  West,  of  Chiskiack, 
brother  of  Lord  Delaware,  as  governor,  and  sum- 
moned an  assembly  to  meet  at  Jamestown  in  May 
following.  This  body  promptly  ratified  the  action 


98  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1635 

of  the  council,  and  Harvey  was  put  aboard  a  ship 
and  sent  off  to  England  in  charge  of  two  members 
of  the  House  of  Burgesses.1 

This  deposition  of  a  royal  governor'  was  a  bold 
proceeding  and  mightily  surprised  King  Charles. 
He  declared  it  an  act  of  "regal  authority,"  had  the 
two  daring  burgesses  arrested,  and  on  the  com- 
plaint of  Lord  Baltimore,  who  befriended  Harvey, 
caused  West,  Utie,  Menifie,  Matthews,  and  others  of 
the  unfriendly  councillors  to  appear  in  England  to 
answer  for  their  crimes.  Meanwhile,  to  rebuke  the 
dangerous  precedent  set  in  Virginia,  he  thought  it 
necessary  to  restore  Harvey  to  his  government.2 

Harvey  did  not  enjoy  his  second  lease  of  power 
long,  for  the  king,  in  the  vicissitudes  of  English 
politics,  found  it  wise  to  turn  once  more  a  favorable 
ear  to  the  friends  of  the  old  company,  and  in  January, 
1639,  Sir  Francis  Wyatt,  who  had  governed  Virginia 
so  acceptably  once  before,  was  commissioned  to 
succeed  Harvey.  The  former  councillors  in  Vir- 
ginia were  restored  to  power,  and  in  the  king's  in- 
structions to  Wyatt  the  name  of  Captain  West  was 
inserted  as  "  Muster-Master-General "  in  Charles's 
own  handwriting.3 

1  Va.  Magazine,  I.,  416,  425,  VIII.,  299-306;  Neill,  Virginia 
Carolorum,  118-120. 

2  Cat.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  pp.  216,  217. 

3  Wyatt's  commission,  in  Va.  Magazine,  XL,  50—54;  Cal.  of 
State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1674,  p.  83. 


rum  Greenwich        75° 


VIRGINIA  IN  1352 

Showing  the  Counties 
and  Dates  of  their  Formation 

^SCALE  OF  MILES 


CHAPTER  VI 

SOCIAL  AND  ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS  OF 
VIRGINIA 

(1634-1652) 

DURING  the  vicissitudes  of  government  in  Vir- 
ginia the  colony  continued  to  increase  in  wealth 
and  population,  and  in  1634  eight  counties  were 
created;1  while  an  official  census  in  April,  1635, 
showed  nearly  five  thousand  people,  to  which  num- 
ber sixteen  hundred  were  added  in  1636.  The 
new-comers  during  Harvey's  time  were  principally 
servants  who  came  to  work  the  tobacco  -  fields.2 
Among  them  were  some  convicts  and  shiftless 
people,  but  the  larger  number  were  persons  of 
respectable  standing,  and  some  had  comfortable 
estates  and  influential  connections  in  England.3 
Freed  from  their  service  in  Virginia,  not  a  few  at- 
tained positions  as  justices  of  the  peace  and  bur- 
gesses in  the  General  Assembly.4 

The  trade  of  Virginia  was  become  so  extensive 

1  Hening,  Statutes,  I.,  224. 

2  Cat.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574—1660,  pp.  201,  231,  268- 

3  William  and  Mary  Quarterly,  IV.,  173-176,  V.,  40. 

4  Virginia's  Cure  (Force,  Tracts,  III.,  No.  xv.). 

IOO 


1634]  CONDITIONS    OF   VIRGINIA  101 

that  Dutch  as  well  as  English  ships  sought  the 
colony.  The  principal  settlements  were  on  the  north 
side  of  James  River,  and  as  the  voyager  in  1634 
sailed  from  Chesapeake  Bay  he  passed  first  the  new 
fort  at  Point  Comfort  lately  constructed  by  Captain 
Samuel  Matthews.  About  five  miles  farther  on  was 
Newport  News,  chiefly  remarkable  for  its  spring, 
where  all  the  ships  stopped  to  take  in  water,  at  this 
time  the  residence  of  Captain  Daniel  Gookin,  a  prom- 
inent Puritan,  who  afterwards  removed  to  Massa- 
chusetts. Five  miles  above  Newport  News,  at  Deep 
Creek,  was  Denbeigh,  Captain  Samuel  Matthews's 
place,  a  miniature  village  rather  than  plantation, 
where  many  servants  were  employed,  hemp  and 
flax  woven,  hides  tanned,  leather  made  into  shoes, 
cattle  and  swine  raised  for  the  ships  outward  bound, 
and  a  large  dairy  and  numerous  poultry  kept. 

A  few  hours'  sail  from  Denbeigh  was  Littletown, 
the  residence  of  George  Menifie.  He  had  a  garden 
of  two  acres  on  the  river-side,  which  was  full  of  roses 
of  Provence,  apple,  pear,  and  cherry  trees,  and  the 
various  fruits  of  Holland,  with  different  kinds  of 
sweet-smelling  herbs,  such  as  rosemary,  sage,  mar- 
joram, and  thyme.  Growing  around  the  house  was 
an  orchard  of  peach-trees,  which  astonished  his  vis- 
itors very  much,  for  they  were  not  to  be  seen  any- 
where else  on  the  coast.1 

About  six  miles  farther  was  Jamestown,  a  village 

1  De  Vries,  Voyages  (N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  26.  series, 
HI.,  34). 


102  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1630 

of  three  hundred  inhabitants,  built  upon  two  streets 
at  the  upper  end  of  the  island.  There  the  governor 
resided  with  some  of  his  council,  one  of  whom, 
Captain  William  Pierce,  had  a  garden  of  three  or 
four  acres,  from  which  his  wife  a  few  years  before 
obtained  a  hundred  bushels  of  figs.1  The  houses 
there  as  elsewhere  were  of  wood,  with  brick  chim- 
neys, but  architecture  was  improving. 

In  1637  the  General  Assembly  offered  a  lot  to 
every  person  who  should  build  a  house  at  James- 
town Island ;  and  in  pursuance  of  the  encouragement 
given,  "twelve  new  houses  and  stores  were  built  in 
the  town,"  one  of  brick  by  Richard  Kempe,  "the 
fairest  ever  known  in  this  country  for  substance  and 
uniformity."  About  the  same  time  money  was 
raised  for  a  brick  church  and  a  brick  state-house.2 
As  to  the  general  condition  of  the  colony  in  1634, 
Captain  Thomas  Young  reported  that  there  was  not 
only  a  "  very  great  plentie  of  milk,  cheese,  and  but- 
ter, but  of  corn,  which  latter  almost  every  planter 
in  the  colony  hath."  3 

Such  a  "plentie  of  corn"  must  be  contrasted  with 
the  scarcity  in  1630,  for  the  current  of  prosperity  did 
not  run  altogether  smoothly.  The  mortality  still 
continued  frightful,  and  "  during  the  months  of  June, 
July,  and  August,  the  people  died  like  cats  and 

1  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  887. 

2  Cal.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  p.  288.     In  1639  Daniel 
Stomar,  brickmaker,  patented  land  on  Jamestown  Island  "  next 
to  the  brick-kiln,"  Tyler,  Cradle  of  the  Republic,  46,  99. 

3  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  4th  series,  IX.,  108. 


1 640]  CONDITIONS   OF   VIRGINIA  103 

dogs,"  *  a  statement  especially  true  of  the  servants, 
of  whom  hardly  one  in  five  survived  the  first  year's 
hardships  in  the  malarial  tobacco-fields  along  the 
creeks  and  rivers.2  In  1630  tobacco  tumbled  from 
its  high  price  of  35.  6d.  to  id.  per  pound,  and  the 
colony  was  much  "perplexed"  for  want  of  money 
to  buy  corn,  which  they  had  neglected  to  raise. 
To  relieve  the  distress,  Harvey,  the  next  year,  sent 
several  ships  to  trade  with  the  Indians  up  Chesa- 
peake Bay  and  on  the  coast  as  far  south  as  Cape 
Fear.3 

Tobacco  legislation  for  the  next  ten  years  con- 
sisted in  regulations  vainly  intended  to  prevent 
further  declines.  Tobacco  fluctuated  in  value  from 
one  penny  to  sixpence,  and,  as  it  was  the  general 
currency,  this  uncertainty  caused  much  trouble. 
Some  idea  of  the  general  dependency  upon  tobacco 
may  be  had  from  a  statute  in  1640,  which,  after 
providing  for  the  destruction  of  all  the  bad  tobacco 
and  half  the  good,  estimated  the  remainder  actually 
placed  upon  the  market  by  a  population  of  eight 
thousand  at  one  million  five  hundred  thousand 
pounds.4 

The  decline  in  the  price  of  tobacco  had  the  effect 
of  turning  the  attention  of  the  planters  to  other  in- 
dustries, especially  the  supply  of  corn  to  the  large 

1  De  Vries,  Voyages  (N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  2d  series, 
HI.,  37). 

2  William  and  Mary  Quarterly,  VII.,  66,  114. 

3  Cat.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  p.  117. 

4  Hening,  Statutes,  I.,  225. 


104  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1631 

emigration  from  England  to  Massachusetts.  In 
1631  a  ship -load  of  corn  from  Virginia  was  sold 
at  Salem,  in  Massachusetts,  for  ten  shillings  the 
bushel.1  In  1634  at  least  ten  thousand  bushels 
were  taken  to  Massachusetts,  besides  "good  quanti- 
ties of  beeves,  goats,  and  hogs  "  ;2  and  Harvey  de- 
clared that  Virginia  had  become  "the  granary  of 
all  his  majesty's  northern  colonies,"  3  Yet  from  an 
imported  pestilence,  the  year  1636  was  so  replete 
with  misery  that  Samuel  Maverick,  of  Massachu- 
setts, who  visited  the  colony,  reported  that  eighteen 
hundred  persons  died,  and  corn  sold  at  twenty  shil- 
lings per  bushel.4 

Sir  Francis  Wyatt  arrived  in  the  colony,  Novem- 
ber, 1639,  and  immediately  called  Harvey  to  account 
for  his  abuse  of  power.  The  decree  against  Panton 
was  repealed,  and  his  estate,  which  had  been  seized, 
was  returned  to  him,  while  the  property  of  Harvey 
was  taken  to  satisfy  his  numerous  creditors.5  The 
agitation  for  the  renewal  of  the  charter  still  con- 
tinued, and  Wyatt  called  a  general  assembly  Jan- 
uary, 1640,  at  which  time  it  was  determined  to 
make  another  effort.  George  Sandys  was  appoint- 
ed agent  of  the  colony  in  England,  and  petitions 
reached  England  probably  in  the  autumn  of  1640. 
The  breach  between  the  king  and  Parliament  was 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  67. 

2  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  4th  series,  IX.,  no. 

3  Cal.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  p.  184. 

4  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  228. 
*  Va.  Magazine,  V.,  123-128. 


1642]  CONDITIONS   OF   VIRGINIA  105 

then  complete,  and  Charles  had  thrown  himself 
entirely  into  the  arms  of  the  court  party.  Sandys, 
despairing  of  success  from  the  king,  appealed  to 
Parliament  in  the  name  of  the  •"  Ad  venturers  and 
Planters  in  Virginia,"  and  "the  Virginia  patent  was 
taken  out  again  under  the  broad  seal  of  England."  l 
To  what  extent  the  new  charter  established  the 
boundaries  of  Virginia  does  not  appear,  and  the 
subsequent  turn  of  affairs  in  Virginia  made  the  ac- 
tion of  Parliament  at  this  time  a  nullity. 

To  offset  these  proceedings,  the  king  commis- 
sioned2 Sir  William  Berkeley,  a  vehement  royalist, 
as  successor  to  the  popular  Wyatt,  and  he  arrived  in 
Virginia  in  January,  1642,  where  he  at  once  called 
an  assembly  to  undo  the  work  of  Sandys.  A  pe- 
tition to  the  king  protesting  against  the  restoration 
of  the  company  was  adopted,  but  although  it  was 
signed  by  the  council  and  burgesses,  as  well  as  by 
Berkeley,  the  preamble  alludes  to  strong  differences 
of  opinion.3  The  change  of  position  was  doubtless 
brought  about  by  the  issue  made  in  England  be- 
tween loyalty  and  rebellion ;  and,  while  desirous  of  a 
recharter,  the  majority  of  the  people  of  Virginia  did 
not  care  to  desert  the  king.  The  petition  was  pre- 
sented July  5,  1642,  to  Charles  at  his  headquarters 
at  York,  who  returned  a  gracious  reply  that  "he 


1  Virginia  and  Maryland,  or  the    Lord    Baltimore's    Printed 
Case,  uncased  and  answered  (Force,  Tracts,  II.,  No.  ix.). 

2  Va.  Magazine,  II.,  281-288. 

3  Hening,  Statutes,  I.,  230-235. 


io6  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1642 

had  not  the  least  intention  to  consent  to  the  intro- 
duction of  any  company."  1 

While  loyal  to  the  king,  the  people  of  Virginia  had 
never  been  wedded  to  the  views  of  the  high-church 
party  in  England.  Among  the  ministers  the  surplice 
was  not  usual,  and  there  was  a  Puritan  severity 
about  the  laws  in  regard  to  the  Sabbath  and  at- 
tendance at  church.  As  the  strife  in  England  be- 
came more  pronounced,  the  people  in  Nansemond 
and  lower  Norfolk  counties,  on  the  south  of  the 
James,  showed  decided  leanings  towards  Parliament 
and  to  the  congregational  form  of  worship. 

Soon  they  began  to  think  of  separating  from  the 
church  of  England  altogether,  and  they  sent  for  min- 
isters to  New  England  in  1642.  In  response,  the 
elders  there  despatched  three  of  their  number,  who, 
arriving  in  Virginia,  set  zealously  to  work  to  organ- 
ize the  congregations  on  the  Nansemond  and  Eliza- 
beth rivers.  According  to  their  own  account,  these 
ministers  met  with  much  success  till  they  were  sud- 
denly stopped  in  the  work  by  Berkeley,  who  per- 
suaded the  assembly,  in  March,  1643,  to  pass  severe 
laws  against  Nonconformists;  and  under  this  au- 
thority drove  them  out  of  the  land  in  i644.2 

In  the  same  year  occurred  an  Indian  attack  which 
these  preachers  and  John  Winthrop,  the  governor 


1  Manuscript  Collection  of  Annals  relating  to  Virginia  (Force, 
Tracts,  II.,  No.  vi.). 

2  Latan6,    Early    Relations    between    Maryland    and    Virginia 
(Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies,  XIII.,  Nos.  iii.  and  iv.). 


1644]  CONDITIONS   OF   VIRGINIA  107 

of  Massachusetts,  thought  to  be  a  special  visitation 
of  Providence.  After  the  massacre  in  1622  the  war 
with  the  Indians  had  continued  in  a  desultory  way 
for  over  twelve  years.  Year  after  year  squads  of 
soldiers  were  sent  in  various  directions  against  the 
different  tribes,  and  by  1634  the  Indians  were  so 
punished  that  the  whites  thought  it  safe  to  make 
peace.  Now,  after  a  repose  of  ten  years,  the  fierce 
instincts  of  the  savages  for  blood  were  once  more 
excited. 

April  1 8,  1644,  was  Good  Friday,  and  Governor 
Berkeley  ordered  it  to  be  kept  as  a  special  fast 
day  to  pray  for  King  Charles;  instead,  it  became  a 
day  of  bloodshed  and  mourning.1  The  chief  in- 
stigator of  the  massacre  of  1622  was  still  alive,  old 
Opechancanough,  who,  by  the  death  of  his  brother 
Opitchapam,  was  now  head  chief  of  the  Powhatan 
Confederacy.  Thinking  the  civil  war  in  England  a 
favorable  occasion  to  repeat  the  bloody  deeds  of 
twenty- two  years  before,  on  the  day  before  Good 
Friday  he  attacked  the  settlers,  and  continued  the 
assault  for  two  days,  killing  over  three  hundred 
whites.  The  onslaught  fell  severest  on  the  south 
side  of  James  River  and  on  the  heads  of  the  other 
rivers,  but  chiefly  on  the  York  River,  where  Ope- 
chancanough had  his  residence.2 

The  massacre  of  1622  shook  the  colony  to  its 
foundation,  and  it  is  surprising  to  see  how  little 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  II.,  198,  199. 
,2  Ibid.;  Beverley,  Virginia,  48. 


io8  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1644 

that  of  1644  affected  the  current  of  life  in  Virginia. 
Berkeley  seemed  to  think  so  little  of  the  attack  that 
after  making  William  Claiborne  general  of  an  ex- 
pedition against  the  Pamunkey  tribe  he  left  the 
colony  in  June,  I645.1  He  was  gone  a  whole  year, 
and  on  his  return  found  that  Claiborne  had  driven 
the  Indians  far  away  from  the  settlements.  In 
1646  he  received  information  which  enabled  him  to 
close  the  war  with  dramatic  effect.  At  the  head  of  a 
body  of  cavalry  he  surprised  old  Opechancanough  in 
an  encampment  between  the  falls  of  the  Appomattox 
and  the  James,  and  brought  him,  aged  and  blind,  to 
Jamestown,  where,  about  three  weeks  later,  one  of 
his  guards  shot  him  to  death.2  A  peace  was  made 
not  long  after  with  Necotowance,  his  successor,  by 
which  the  Indians  agreed  to  retire  entirely  from  the 
peninsula  between  the  York  and  James  rivers.3 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  results  of  the  massacre 
was  the  change  it  produced  in  Rev.  Thomas  Harri- 
son, Berkeley's  chaplain  at  Jamestown,  who  had 
used  his  influence  with  the  governor  to  expel  the 
Nonconformist  ministers  of  New  England.  He  came 
to  the  belief  of  John  Winthrop  that  the  massacre 
was  a  Providential  visitation  and  turned  Puritan 
himself.  After  a  quarrel  with  Berkeley  he  left 
Jamestown  and  took  charge  of  the  churches  on 


1  Va.  Magazine,  VIII.,  71-73. 

2  A  Perfect  Description  of  Virginia   (Force,   Tracts,   II.,   No. 
viii.) ;  Beverley,  Virginia,  49. 

3  Hening,  Statutes,  I.,  323-326. 


1649]  CONDITIONS   OF   VIRGINIA  109 

the  Elizabeth  and  Nansemond  rivers  with  their 
Puritan  congregations.  Berkeley  would  probably 
have  set  the  law-officers  upon  him  at  once,  but 
among  his  councillors  was  Richard  Bennett,  himself 
of  Harrison's  congregation,  and  his  influence  held 
the  governor  back  for  a  time. 

Three  years  passed,  and  at  length  Harrison  and 
his  elder,  William  Durand,  were  peremptorily  direct- 
ed to  leave  the  colony.  Harrison  went  first  to  New 
England  and  then  to  old  England,  while  William 
Durand  emigrated  to  Maryland,  where,  aided  by 
Bennett,  he  made  terms  with  Governor  William 
Stone  for  the  emigration  of  his  flock ;  and  in  the  year 
1649  more  than  one  thousand  persons  left  Virginia 
and  settled  on  the  Severn  and  Patuxent  rivers.  The 
settlement  was  called  Providence,  and  was  destined 
to  play  a  remarkable  part  in  the  history  of  Mary- 
land.1 

When  the  civil  war  in  England  was  fairly  on ,  emi- 
gration to  Virginia  was  much  improved  in  material, 
and  for  many  years  was  very  large.  The  new- 
comers came  to  make  homes,  not  merely  to  make 
tobacco,  and  they  no  longer  consisted  of  servants, 
but  of  the  merchants  and  yeomanry  of  England. 
"If  these  troublous  times  hold  long  amongst  us," 
wrote  William  Hallam,  a  salter  of  Burnham,  in 
Essex  County,  England,  "  we  must  all  faine  come  to 
Virginia."  2 

1  LatanS,  Early  Relations  (Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies, 
XIII.).  2  William  and  Mary  Quarterly,  VIII..  239. 


VOL     IV. 


no  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1648 

Hitherto  the  uncertainty  resulting  from  the  over- 
throw of  the  charter  made  it  difficult  to  secure  a 
good  class  of  ministers.  Those  who  came  had  been 
"such  as  wore  black  coats  and  could  babble  in  a 
pulpet,  and  roare  in  a  taveni,  exact  from  their 
parishioners,  and  rather  by  their  dissolutenesse  de- 
stroy than  feed  their  flocks."  Now  these  "wolves 
in  sheep's  clothing"  were  by  the  assembly  forced  to 
depart  the  country  and  a  better  class  of  clergy- 
men arrived.1  In  1649  there  were  twenty  churches 
and  twenty  ministers  who  taught  the  doctrines  of 
the  church  of  England  and  "lived  all  in  peace  and 
love"  ;2  and  at  the  head^of  them  was  a  man  of  ex- 
emplary piety,  Rev.  Philip  Mallory,  son  of  Dr. 
Thomas  Mallory,  Dean  of  Chester.3 

The  condition  of  things  about  1648  is  thus 
summed  up  by  Hammond,  a  contemporary  writer: 
"  Then  began  the  gospel  to  flourish ;  civil,  honorable, 
and  men  of  great  estates  flocked  in;  famous  build- 
ings went  forward;  orchards  innumerable  were 
planted  and  preserved ;  tradesmen  set  to  work  and, 
encouraged,  staple  commodities,  as  silk,  flax,  pot- 
ashes attempted  on.  ...  So  that  this  country,  which 
had  a  mean  beginning,  many  back  friends,  two  ruin- 
ous and  bloody  massacres,  hath  by  God's  grace  out- 
grown all,  and  is  become  a  place  of  pleasure  and 
plenty." 

1  Hammond,  Leah  and  Rachel  (Force,  Tracts,  III.,  No.  xiv.). 

2  Perfect  Description  (ibid.,  II.,  No.  viii.). 

8  Neill,  Virginia  Carolorum,  238;  Tyler,  Cradle  of  the  Re- 
public, 90. 


1651]  CONDITIONS   OF   VIRGINIA  in 

Later,  after  the  beheading  of  King  Charles  in 
1649,  there  was  a  large  influx  of  cavaliers,  who,  while 
they  raised  the  quality  of  society,  much  increased 
the  sympathy  felt  in  Virginia  for  the  royal  cause. 
Under  their  influence  Sir  William  Berkeley  de- 
nounced the  murder  of  King  Charles  I.,  and  the 
General  Assembly  adopted  an  act  making  it  treason 
to  defend  the  late  proceedings  or  to  doubt  the  right 
of  his  son,  Charles  II.,  to  succeed  to  the  crown.1 
Parliament  was  not  long  in  accepting  the  challenge 
which  Berkeley  tendered.  In  October,  1650,  they 
adopted  an  ordinance  prohibiting  trade  with  the  re- 
bellious colonies  of  Virginia,  Barbadoes,  Antigua, 
and  Bermuda  Islands,  and  authorizing  the  Coun- 
cil of  State  to  take  measures  to  reduce  them  to 
terms.2 

In  October,  1651,  was  passed  the  first  of  the 
navigation  acts,  which  limited  the  colonial  trade  to 
England,  and  banished  from  Virginia  the  Dutch 
vessels,  which  carried  abroad  most  of  the  exports. 
About  the  same  time,  having  taken  measures  against 
Barbadoes,  the  Council  of  State  ordered  a  squadron 
to  be  prepared  against  Virginia.  It  was  placed 
under  the  command  of  Captain  Robert  Dennis ;  and 
Thomas  Stegge,  Richard  Bennett,  and  William 
Claiborne,  members  of  Berkeley's  council,  were 
joined  with  him  in  a  commission3  to  "use  their 


1  Hening,  Statutes,  I.,  359-361. 

*  Cat.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  p.  343. 

1  Md.  Archives,  III.,  265-267. 


ii2  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1651 

best  endeavors  to  reduce  all  the  plantations  within 
the  Bay  of  Chesopiack."  Bennett  and  Claibome 
were  in  Virginia  at  the  time,  and  probably  did  not 
know  of  their  appointment  till  the  ships  arrived  in 
Virginia. 

The  fleet  left  England  in  October,  1651,  carrying 
six  hundred  men,  but  on  the  way  Captain  Dennis 
and  Captain  Stegge  were  lost  in  a  storm  and  the 
command  devolved  on  Captain  Edmund  Curtis.1 
In  December  they  reached  the  West  Indies,  where 
they  assisted  Sir  George  Ayscue  in  the  reduction  of 
Barbadoes.  In  January,  1652,  they  reached  Vir- 
ginia, where  Curtis  showed  Claiborne  and  Bennett 
his  duplicate  instructions.  Berkeley,  full  of  fight, 
called  out  the  militia,  twelve  hundred  strong,  and 
engaged  the  assistance  of  a  few  Dutch  ships  then 
trading  in  James  River  contrary  to  the  recent  navi- 
gation act. 

The  commissioners  acted  with  prudence  and  good 
sense.  They  did  not  proceed  at  once  to  Jamestown, 
but  first  issued  a  proclamation  intended  to  disabuse 
the  people  of  any  idea  that  they  came  to  make 
war.2  The  result  was  that  in  March,  1652,  when 
they  appeared  before  the  little  capital,  the  council 
and  burgesses  overruled  Berkeley,  and  entered  into 
an  agreement  with  Curtis,  Claiborne,  and  Bennett, 
which  proves  the  absence  of  hard  feelings  on  both 
sides.  The  Virginians  recognized  the  authority  of 

1  Cal.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  p.  393. 

2  See  report  of  the  commissioners,  Va.  Magazine,  XL,  32. 


1652]  CONDITIONS   OF   VIRGINIA  113 

the  commonwealth  of  England,  and  promised  to 
pass  no  statute  contrary  to  the  laws  of  Parliament. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  commissioners  acknowl- 
edged the  submission  of  Virginia,  "as  a  voluntary 
act  not  forced  nor  constrained  by  a  conquest  upon 
the  countrey";  and  conceded  her  right  "to  be  free 
from  all  taxes,  customs,  and  impositions  whatever, 
not  enforced  by  the  General  Assembly."  In  par- 
ticular it  was  stipulated  that  "Virginia  should  have 
and  enjoy  the  antient  bounds  and  lymitts  granted 
by  the  charters  of  the  former  kings." 

The  articles  were  signed  March  12,  1652,  and  the 
commissioners  soon  after  sailed  to  St.  Mary's  and 
received  the  surrender  of  Maryland.  They  returned 
in  time  to  be  present  at  a  new  meeting  of  the  as- 
sembly held  at  Jamestown  in  April,  at  which  it  was 
unanimously  voted  that  until  the  further  pleasure 
of  Parliament  was  known  Richard  Bennett  should 
be  governor  and  William  Claiborne  secretary  of 
state.  To  the  burgesses,  as  the  representatives  of 
the  people,  was  handed  over  the  supreme  power  of 
thereafter  electing  all  officers  of  the  colony.1  Then 
Virginia,  the  last  of  the  British  dominions  to  aban- 
don the  king,  entered  upon  eight  years  of  almost 
complete  self-government,  under  the  protection  of 
the  commonwealth  of  England. 

In  1652  the  settlements  in  Virginia  were  em- 
braced in  thirteen  counties,  of  which  Northampton, 
on  the  Accomack  Peninsula,  extended  to  the  southern 

1  Hening,  Statutes,  I.,  363,  371. 


u4  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1652 

boundary  of  Maryland.  On  the  James  River  were 
nine  counties:  Henrico,  Charles  City,  James  City, 
Surry,  Warwick,  Warascoyack,  or  Isle  of  Wight, 
Elizabeth  City,  Nansemond,  and  Lower  Norfolk. 
On  York  River  were  York  County  on  the  south 
side  and  Gloucester  on  the  north  side.1  On  the 
Rappahannock  was  Lancaster  County,  extending 
on  both  sides  of  the  river  from  Pianketank  to  Divid- 
ing Creek  in  the  Northern  Neck;  and  on  the  Poto- 
mac was  the  county  of  Northumberland,  first  settled 
about  1638  at  Chicacoan  and  Appomattox  on  the 
Potomac,  by  refugees  from  Maryland.2 

Towards  the  south  the  plantations,  following  the 
watercourses,  had  spread  to  the  heads  of  the  creeks 
and  rivers,  tributaries  of  the  James,  and  some 
persons  more  adventurous  than  the  rest  had  even 
made  explorations  in  North  Carolina.3  Westward 
the  extension  was,  of  course,  greatest  along  the  line 
of  the  James,  reaching  as  far  as  the  Falls  where 
Richmond  now  stands.  The  population  was  prob- 
ably about  twenty  thousand,  of  whom  as  many  as 
five  thousand  were  white  servants  and  five  hundred 
were  negroes. 

The  houses  throughout  the  colony  were  generally 
of  wood,  a  story  and  a  half  high,  and  were  roofed 
with  shingles.  The  chimneys  were  of  brick,  and  the 
wealthier  people  lived  in  houses  constructed  wholly 

1  Virginia  Land  Grants,  MSS. 

2  Md.  Archives,  IV.,  268,  315. 

3  Bancroft,  United  States  (22ded.),  II.,  134- 


1652]  CONDITIONS   OF  VIRGINIA  115 

of  home-made  brick.1  "They  had,  besides,  good 
English  furniture"  and  a  "good  store  of  plate." 
By  ordinary  labor  at  making  tobacco  any  person 
could  clear  annually  £20  sterling,  the  equivalent  of 
$500  to-day.  The  condition  of  the  servants  had 
greatly  improved,  and  their  labor  was  not  so  hard 
nor  of  such  continuance  as  that  of  farmers  and 
mechanics  in  England.  Thefts  were  seldom  com- 
mitted, and  an  old  writer  asserts  that  "he  was  an 
eye-witness  in  England  to  more  deceits  and  villanies 
in  four  months  than  he  ever  saw  or  heard  mention 
of  in  Virginia  in  twenty  years  abode  there."  2 

The  plenty  of  everything  made  hospitality  uni- 
versal, and  the  health  of  the  country  was  greatly 
promoted  by  the  opening  of  the  forests.  Indeed,  so 
contented  were  the  people  with  their  new  homes 
that  the  same  writer  declares,  "  Seldom  (if  ever)  any 
that  hath  continued  in  Virginia  any  time  will  or  do 
desire  to  live  in  England,  but  post  back  with  what 
expedition  they  can,  although  many  are  landed 
men  in  England,  and  have  good  estates  there,  and 
divers  wayes  of  preferments  propounded  to  them 
to  entice  and  perswade  their  continuance." 

In  striking  contrast  to  New  England  was  the  ab- 
sence of  towns,  due  mainly  to  two  reasons — first, 
the  wealth  of  watercourses,  which  enabled  every 
planter  of  means  to  ship  his  products  from  his  own 

1  Tyler,    "Colonial    Brick    Houses,"    in    Century    Magazine, 
February,  1896. 

2  Hammond,  Leah  and  Rachel  (Force,  Tracts,  III.,  No.  xiv.). 


n6  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1652 

wharf;  and,  secondly,  the  culture  of  tobacco,  which 
scattered  the  people  in  a  continual  search  for  new 
and  richer  lands.  This  rural  life,  while  it  hindered 
co-operation,  promoted  a  spirit  of  independence 
among  the  whites  of  all  classes  which  counteracted 
the  aristocratic  form  of  government.  The  colony 
was  essentially  a  democracy,  for  though  the  chief 
offices  in  the  counties  and  the  colony  at  large  were 
held  by  a  few  families,  the  people  were  protected  by 
a  popular  House  of  Burgesses,  which  till  1736  was 
practically  established  on  manhood  suffrage.  Negro 
slavery  tended  to  increase  this  independence  by 
making  race  and  not  wealth  the  great  distinction; 
and  the  ultimate  result  was  seen  after  1792,  when 
Virginia  became  the  headquarters  of  the  Democra- 
tic-Republican party — the  party  of  popular  ideas.1 

Under  the  conditions  of  Virginia  society,  no  devel- 
oped educational  system  was  possible,  but  it  is  wrong 
to  suppose  that  there  was  none.  The  parish  insti- 
tutions introduced  from  England  included  educa- 
tional beginnings ;  every  minister  had  a  school,  and 
it  was  the  duty  of  the  vestry  to  see  that  all  poor 
children  could  read  and  write.  The  county  courts 
supervised  the  vestries  and  held  a  yearly  ''orphans' 
court,"  which  looked  after  the  material  and  educa- 
tional welfare  of  all  orphans.2 

1  Tyler,  "Virginians   Voting   in    the    Colonial    Period,"    in 
William  and  Mary  Quarterly,  VI.,  9. 

2  "Education    in    Colonial    Virginia,"      William    and    Mary 
Quarterly,  V.,   219-223,  VI.,    1-7,   71-86,    171-186,   VII.,   1-9, 
65.  77- 


1659]  CONDITIONS   OF  VIRGINIA  117 

The  benevolent  design  of  a  free  school  in  the 
colony,  frustrated  by  the  massacre  of  1622,  was 
realized  in  1635,  when — three  years  before  John 
Harvard  bequeathed  his  estate  to  the  college  near 
Boston  which  bears  his  name — Benjamin  Syms  left 
4 'the  first  legacy  by  a  resident  of  the  American 
plantations  of  England  for  the  promotion  of  edu- 
cation . "  l  In  1 6  5  9  Thomas  Eaton  established 2  a  free 
school  in  Elizabeth  City  County,  adjoining  that  of 
Benjamin  Syms;  and  a  fund  amounting  to  $10,000, 
representing  these  two  ancient  charities,  is  still  used 
to  carry  on  the  public  high-school  at  Hampton,  Vir- 
ginia. In  1655  Captain  Henry  King  left  a  legacy 
for  a  free  school  in  Isle  of  Wight  County;  and  in 
1659  Captain  William  Whittington  left  two  thou- 
sand pounds  of  tobacco  for  a  free  school  in  North- 
ampton County. 

1  Neill,  Virginia  Carolorum,  112. 

2  "  Eaton's  Deed,"  in  William  and  Mary  Quarterly,  XI.,  19. 


CHAPTER  VII 

FOUNDING   OF   MARYLAND 
(1632-1650) 

THE  founding  of  Maryland  was  due  chiefly  to 
the  personal  force  of  George  Calvert,  first  Lord 
Baltimore,  son  of  Leonard  Calvert.  He  was  born 
near  Kiplin,  in  Yorkshire,  about  1580,  and  grad- 
uated at  Trinity  College;  Oxford,  1597.  After  mak- 
ing a  tour  of  Europe  he  became  the  private  sec- 
retary of  Sir  Robert  Cecil,  who  rapidly  advanced 
his  fortunes.  He  served  upon  several  missions  to 
investigate  the  affairs  of  Ireland,  was  knighted  in 
1617,  and  in  1619  succeeded  Sir  Thomas  Lake  as 
principal  secretary  of  state. 

In  this  office  he  began  to  revolve  plans  of  coloni- 
zation in  America,  to  which  his  attention  was  direct- 
ed as  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Company  since 
1609.  In  1620  he  bought  from  Sir  William  Vaugh- 
an  the  southeastern  peninsula  of  Newfoundland, 
known  as  Ferryland,  and  the  next  year  sent  some 
colonists  thither.  He  supported  the  Spanish  match ; 
and  when  Charles  changed  his  policy  he  obtained 
from  the  king  in  1623  a  charter  for  his  province, 
which  he  called  Avalon.  In  1625  he  resigned  his 

118 


1629]  FOUNDING   OF   MARYLAND  119 

secretaryship  and  openly  avowed  his , adherence  to 
the  church  of  Rome ;  but  the  king,  as  a  mark  of  favor, 
raised  him  to  the  Irish  peerage,  with  the  title  of 
Baron  of  Baltimore,  after  a  small  town  of  that  name 
in  Ireland.1 

Baltimore  returned  to  his  plans  of  colonization, 
and  in  1627  went  to  Newfoundland  with  his  wife  and 
children.  But  the  country  proved  too  cold  for  him 
and  he  determined  to  "  shift"  to  a  warmer  climate. 
Accordingly,  in  August,  1629,  he  wrote  to  the  king 
for  a  "grant  of  a  precinct  of  land  in  Virginia,"  with 
the  same  privileges  as  those  which  King  James  gave 
him  in  Newfoundland.2  Without  waiting  for  a 
reply  he  left  Avalon,  and  in  October,  1629,  arrived 
in  Virginia,  where  the  governor,  Dr.  John  Pott,  and 
his  council  received  him  politely  but  coldly.  Neither 
his  religion  nor  his  past  career  as  a  court  favorite, 
nor  the  design  which  he  made  known  of  establish- 
ing an  independent  state  within  the  confines  of 
Virginia,  commended  him  to  the  people  of  James- 
town. 

Naturally,  they  wished  to  get  rid  of  him,  and  the 
council  tendered  him  the  oaths  of  allegiance  and 
supremacy,  which,  in  the  various  instructions  from 
the  king,  they  were  strictly  enjoined  to  require  of 
all  new-comers.  The  oath  of  allegiance  occasioned 
no  difficulty,  but  the  oath  of  supremacy,  which  re- 
quired Baltimore  to  swear  that  he  believed  the  king 

1  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  II.,  841. 

2  Cat.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  pp.  83,  93,  100. 


120  ENGLAND   IN  AMERICA  [1629 

to  be  "  the  only  supreme  governor  in  his  realm  in  all 
spiritual  or  ecclesiastical  things  or  causes,"  was  re- 
pugnant to  him  as  a  Catholic,  and  he  declined  to 
take  it,  but  offered  to  subscribe  to  a  modified  form. 
This  was  refused,  and  after  several  weeks'  sojourn 
Lord  Baltimore  sailed  away  to  England  to  press  his 
suit  in  person  before  the  king.1 

So  far  as  the  law  of  England  stood  at  that  time, 
the  effect  of  the  dissolution  of  the  London  Company 
was  to  extinguish  the  debts  of  the  corporation  and 
vest  all  its  property  undisposed  of  in  the  crown. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  were  the  repeated  official 
pledges  of  Charles  and  his  father  not  to  disturb  the 
interest  of  either  planter  or  adventurer  in  any  part 
of  the  territory  formerly  conveyed  by  the  charter  of 
i6oQ.2  Nevertheless,  the  king  preferred  law  to 
equity,  and  October  30,  1629,  granted  to  Sir  Robert 
Heath  the  province  of  Carolana  in  the  southern 
part  of  Virginia,  between  thirty-one  and  thirty-six 
degrees.3  But  there  was  a  clause  in  this  charter 
excepting  any  land  "actually  granted  or  in  posses- 
sion of  any  of  his  majesty's  subjects." 

About  the  same  time  Cottington,  the  secretary 
of  state,  was  directed  to  answer  Lord  Baltimore's 
letter  written  from  Newfoundland  and  promise  him 
"any  part  of  Virginia  not  already  granted."  Lord 
Baltimore  arrived  in  London  soon  after  this  letter 


1  Cal.   of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  p.  104;  Md.  Archives, 
III.,  17.  2  Md.  Archives,  III.,  19. 

3  Heath's  grant,  in  Cal.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1674,  p.  70. 


1632]  FOUNDING   OF   MARYLAND  121 

was  written,  and  in  December,  1629,  petitioned  to 
be  permitted  to  "  choose  for  his  part"  a  tract  south 
of  James  River  and  north  of  Carolana.  A  charter 
was  made  out  for  him  in  February,  1631,  and  would 
have  passed  the  seals  but  for  the  intervention  of 
William  Claiborne,  one  of  those  Virginia  councillors 
who  had  offered  the  oath  to  Baltimore.1 

William  Claiborne,  the  second  son  of  Sir  Edward 
Claiborne,  of  Westmoreland  County,  England,  went 
over  to  Virginia  with  Governor  Wyatt  in  1621  as 
surveyor-general  of  the  colony.  Shortly  afterwards 
he  was  made  a  councillor,  and  in  1625  secretary  of 
state  of  the  colony.  In  the  Indian  war,  which  be- 
gan with  the  massacre  in  1622,  he  was  appointed 
general,  and  in  1629  received  lands  in  the  Pamunkey 
Neck  for  valuable  military  service.  Active  and 
fearless,  he  engaged  with  great  success  in  the  trade 
for  furs  in  the  bay,  and  was  recognized  as  the  fore- 
most man  in  Virginia.  Sent  in  May,  1630,  by  the 
Virginia  council  to  watch  the  movements  of  Lord 
Baltimore,  he  co-operated  in  England  with  ex-Gov- 
ernor Francis  West,  of  Virginia,  Sir  John  Wolsten- 
holme,  and  other  gentlemen  who  wished  the  restor- 
ation of  the  London  Company. 

Aided  by  these  friends,  Claiborne  defeated  the 
proposed  grant,  but  Baltimore  persevered,  and,  in 
April,  1632,  received  from  the  crown  a  patent  for  a 
portion  of  the  Virginia  territory  lying  north  of  Point 
Comfort,  and  having  for  bounds  the  ocean,  the 

1  Neill,  Founders  of  Maryland,  46,  47. 


122  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1632 

fortieth  parallel  of  north  latitude,  the  meridian  of 
the  western  fountain  of  the  Potomac,  the  southern 
bank  of  the  Potomac  River,  and  a  line  drawn  east 
from  Watkins  Point.  In  the  grant  the  land  was 
described  as  "  hitherto  unsettled  and  occupied  only 
by  barbarians  ignorant  of  God."  The  king  first 
proposed  to  call  it  Marianna,  in  honor  of  his  wife, 
Henrietta  Maria,  but  on  Baltimore  objecting  that 
it  was  the  name  of  a  Spanish  historian  who  had 
written  against  the  doctrine  of  passive  obedience, 
Charles  modified  the  appellation,  and  said,  "  Let  it 
be  called  Terra  Mariae — Maryland."  l 

April  15,  1632,  George  Calvert  died,  and  the 
charter  was  made  out  in  the  name  of  his  eldest  son, 
Cecilius,  and  was  signed  by  the  king,  June  20,  1632. 
Cecilius  Calvert,  named  after  Sir  Robert  Cecil,  was 
born  in  1605,  and  in  1621  entered  Trinity  College, 
Oxford  University.  He  married  Anne  Arundel, 
daughter  of  Lord  Thomas  Arundel,  of  Wardour. 
As  Cecilius,  unlike  his  father,  never  held  public 
positions  in  England,  his  character  is  best  revealed 
by  his  conduct  of  his  province  in  America,  which 
shows  him  to  have  been  a  man  of  consummate 
prudence  and  tact. 

Baltimore's  grant  called  forth  a  strong  remon- 
strance from  members  of  the  Virginia  Company  and 
all  the  leading  planters  in  Virginia,  including  Clai- 
borne.  The  matter  was  referred  by  the  king  to 
the  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Plantations,  who 

1  Neill,  Terra  Maries,  53;  Ogilby,  America,  183. 


1633]  FOUNDING   OF   MARYLAND  123 

heard  the  complaint,  and  July  3,  1633,  decided  to 
"leave  Lord  Baltimore  to  his  patent"  and  "the 
other  partie  to  the  course  of  the  law."1  This  cer- 
tainly meant  a  decision  against  the  wholesale  claim 
of  Virginia  to  the  ancient  limits,  and  was  deemed  by 
Lord  Baltimore  as  authorizing  him  to  go  on  with 
his  settlement ;  and  his  patent  authorized  a  form  of 
government  entirely  different  from  anything  yet 
tried  in  America. 

The  English  colonies  of  Virginia  and  Massachu- 
setts were  founded  by  joint-stock  companies  really 
or  ostensibly  for  profit.  After  the  suppression  of 
the  London  Company  in  1624,  the  powers  of  govern- 
ment in  Virginia  devolved  upon  the  king,  and  the 
government  was  called  a  crown  government.  Had 
Charles  been  a  Spanish  or  French  king  he  would  have 
appointed  an  absolute  governor  who  would  have 
tyrannized  over  the  people.  But  Charles,  as  an 
English  king,  admitted  the  colonists  into  a  share  of 
the  government  by  permitting  them  to  elect  .one  of 
the  branches  of  the  law-making  body.  This  con- 
cession effectually  secured  the  liberties  of  the  people, 
for  the  House  of  Burgesses,  possessing  the  sole  right 
to  originate  laws,  became  in  a  short  time  the  most 
influential  factor  of  the  government. 

Baltimore's  government  for  Maryland,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  to  be  a  palatinate  similar  to  the 
bishopric  of  Durham,  in  England,  which  took  its 
origin  when  border  warfare  with  Scotland  prevailed, 

1  Md.  Archives,  III.,  21. 


124  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1633 

and  the  king  found  it  necessary  to  invest  the  bishop, 
as  ruler  of  the  county,  with  exceptionally  high  pow- 
ers for  the  protection  of  the  kingdom.  Durham 
was  the  solitary  surviving  instance  in  England  of 
the  county  palatinate,  so  called  because  the  rulers 
had  in  their  counties  jura  regalia  as  fully  as  the  king 
had  in  his  palace.  In  Durham  the  bishop  had  the 
sole  power  of  pardoning  offences,  appointing  judges 
and  other  officers,  coining  money,  and  granting  titles 
of  honor  and  creating  courts.  In  the  other  counties  of 
England  all  writs  ran  in  the  king's  name,  but  in  Dur- 
ham they  ran  in  the  bishop's.  The  county  had  no 
representation  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  were 
it  not  that  the  bishop  was  a  member  of  the  House 
of  Lords,  an  officer  of  the  church,  paid  taxes  into 
the  national  treasury,  and  had  to  submit  to  appeals 
to  the  court  of  exchequer  in  London,  in  cases  to 
which  he  was  a  party,  he  was,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  a  king,  and  his  county  an  independent 
nation. 

Baltimore  by  his  charter  was  made  even  more  in- 
dependent of  the  king  of  England  than  the  bishop, 
for  neither  he  nor  his  province  had  any  taxes  to  pay 
into  the  British  treasury,  and  he  held  his  territory  in 
free  and  common  socage  by  the  delivery  of  two 
Indian  arrows  yearly  at  the  palace  of  Windsor  and 
a  promise  of  the  fifth  part  of  all  gold  and  silver 
mined.  In  legislation  the  bishop  had  decidedly  the 
advantage,  for  his  power  to  make  law  was  practical- 
ly uncontrolled,  while  the  proprietor  of  Maryland 


1633]  FOUNDING   OF    MARYLAND  125 

could  only  legislate  "with  the  advice,  assent,  and 
approbation  of  the  freemen  or  the  greater  part  of 
them  or  their  representatives."1 

One  cardinal  feature  of  Lord  Baltimore's  colony 
found  no  expression  either  in  the  government  of 
Durham  or  in  his  own  charter.  On  their  liberality 
in  the  question  of  religion  the  fame  of  both  George 
and  Cecilius  Calvert  most  securely  rests.  While 
neither  realized  the  sacredness  of  the  principle  of 
religious  freedom,  there  is  no  doubt  that  both  father 
and  son  possessed  a  liberality  of  feeling  which  placed 
them  ahead  of  their  age.  Had  policy  been  solely  their 
motive,  they  would  never  have  identified  themselves 
with  a  persecuted  and  powerless  sect  in  England. 
In  the  charter  of  Maryland,  Baltimore  was  given 
"  the  patronage  and  advowsons  of  all  churches 
which,  with  the  increasing  worship  and  religion  of 
Christ  within  the  said  region,  hereafter  shall  happen 
to  be  built,  together  with  the  license  and  faculty  of 
erecting  and  founding  churches,  chapels,  and  places 
of  worship  in  convenient  and  suitable  places  within 
the  premises,  and  of  causing  the  same  to  be  dedicated 
and  consecrated  according  to  the  ecclesiastical  laws 
of  England."  This  clause  was  far  from  establish- 
ing religious  freedom;  but  while  it  permitted  Bal- 
timore to  found  Anglican  churches,  it  did  not 
compel  him  to  do  so  or  prohibit  him  from  per- 

1  Fiske,  Old  Virginia  and  Her  Neighbors;  Bassett,  Constitu- 
tional Beginnings  of  North  Carolina;  Lapsley,  County  Palatinate 
of  Durham. 

VOL.    IV. — 10 


126  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1633 

mitting  the  foundation  of  churches  of  a  different 
stamp. 

About  the  middle  of  October,  1633,  Baltimore's 
two  ships  got  under  way  for  America — the  Ark,  of 
three  hundred  tons,  and  the  Dove,  of  sixty  tons. 
The  emigrants  consisted  of  twenty  gentlemen  and 
about  three  hundred  laborers ;  and,  while  most  of  the 
latter  were  Protestants,  the  governor,  Leonard  Cal- 
vert,  brother  of  Lord  Baltimore,  was  a  Catholic, 
as  were  Thomas  Cornwallis  and  Gabriel  Harvey, 
the  two  councillors  associated  with  him  in  the 
government,  and  the  other  persons  of  influence  on 
board.  Among  the  latter  were  two  Jesuit  priests, 
to  one  of  whom,  Father  Andrew  White,  we  owe  a 
charming  account  of  the  voyage.  Baltimore,  in  his 
written  instructions  to  his  brother,  manifested  his 
policy  of  toleration,  by  directing  him  to  allow  no 
offence  to  be  given  to  any  Protestant  on  board, 
and  to  cause  Roman  Catholics  to  be  silent  "upon 
all  occasions  of  discourse  concerning  matters  of 
religion."1 

The  expedition  did  not  get  away  from  England 
without  trouble.  The  attempt  to  divide  the  terri- 
tory of  Virginia  was  not  popular,  and  Catholics  were 
looked  upon  as  dangerous  persons.  The  effort  of 
the  emigrants  to  sail  without  subscribing  the  neces- 
sary oaths  caused  the  ships  to  be  brought  back  by 
Admiral  Pennington.2  It  was  not  until  November 

1  Calvert  Papers  (Md.  Hist.  Soc.,  Fund  Publications,  No. 
28),  p.  132.  2  Md.  Archives,  III.,  23. 


1634]  FOUNDING   OF   MARYLAND  127 

22,  1633,  that  they  got  off,  and  the  ships  took  the 
old  route  to  Virginia — by  way  of  the  West  Indies. 

February  27,  1634,  they  reached  Point  Comfort, 
where  the  king's  letter  addressed  to  Sir  John  Harvey 
insured  them  a  kind  reception.  Here  they  learned 
that  the  Indians  of  the  Potomac  were  excited  over 
a  rumor  that  they  were  Spaniards  coming  to  subdue 
the  country.  After  a  stay  of  eight  or  nine  days  for 
fresh  provisions  the  emigrants  set  sail  up  Chesapeake 
Bay  and  soon  entered  the  Potomac  River,  "  in  com- 
parison with  which  the  Thames  seemed  a  rivulet . "  At 
its  mouth  they  saw  natives  on  shore  in  arms,  and  at 
night  their  watch-fires  blazed  throughout  the  country. 

March  25  the  settlers  landed  on  St.  Clement's 
Island  and  erected  a  cross.  Then  leaving  the  Ark 
with  most  of  the  passengers,  Governor  Calvert,  with 
the  Dove,  and  a  pinnace  bought  at  Point  Comfort,  ex- 
plored the  river  and  made  friends  with  the  Indians. 
He  found  that  they  all  acknowledged  the  sovereignty 
of  the  "  emperor  of  Piscataqua,"  who,  relieved  of  his 
apprehensions,  gave  them  permission  to  settle  in  the 
country.  The  final  choice  of  a  seating-place  was  due 
to  Captain  Henry  Fleet,  a  well-known  member  of  the 
Virginia  colony,  who  guided  them  up  St.  George's 
River,  about  nine  miles  from  its  juncture  with  the 
Potomac;  and  there,  on  its  north  bank,  March  27, 
1634,  Leonard  Calvert  laid  out  the  city  of  St.  Mary's.1 

1  White,  Relation  (Force,  Tracts,  IV.,  No.  xii.) ;  letter  of 
Leonard  Calvert,  Calvert  Papers  (Md.  Hist.  Soc.,  Fund  Publi- 
cations, No.  35),  pp.  32-35;  Baltimore,  Relation  (London,  1635). 


128  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1634 

Though  we  have  little  record  of  the  early  social 
and  economic  conditions  of  the  settlers,  the  colony 
appears  to  have  been  remarkably  free  from  the 
sufferings  and  calamities  that  befell  the  Virginians. 
This  exemption  was  probably  due  to  the  following 
causes:  there  was  no  common  stock,  but  the  prop- 
erty was  held  in  severalty;  there  was  a  proper  pro- 
portion of  gentlemen  and  laborers,  few  of  one  class 
and  many  of  the  other;  Virginia  was  near  at  hand 
and  provisions  and  cattle  could  be  easily  secured; 
and  they  had  immediate  use  of  Indian -cleared  fields, 
because  when  they  arrived  at  St.  Mary's,  the  Yao- 
comocos,  harassed  by  the  Susquehannas,  were  on 
the  point  of  removing  across  the  Potomac  to  Vir- 
ginia, and  were  glad  to  sell  what  they  had  ceased  to 
value.  It  seems,  too,  that  Maryland  was  healthier 
than  Virginia. 

Hence,  the  very  first  year  they  had  an  excellent 
crop  of  corn,  and  sent  a  ship-load  to  New  England 
to  exchange  for  salt  fish  and  other  provisions.1 
Imitating  the  example  of  the  Virginians,  they  began 
immediately  to  plant  tobacco,  which,  as  in  Virginia, 
became  the  currency  and  leading  product.  Its  cul- 
tivation caused  the  importation  of  a  great  number 
of  servants,  "  divers  of  very  good  rank  and  quali- 
ty," 2  who,  after  a  service  of  four  or  five  years, 
became  freemen.  In  the  assembly  of  1638  several 
of  the  servants  in  the  first  emigration  took  their 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  166. 
1  Neill,  Founders  of  Maryland,  80. 


1638]  FOUNDING   OF   MARYLAND  129 

seats  as  burgesses.  As  the  demand  for  houses  and 
casks  for  tobacco  was  great,  a  good  many  carpenters 
and  coopers  came  out  at  their  own  expense  and  re- 
ceived shares  of  land  by  way  of  encouragement. 

A  state  of  society  developed  similar  in  many  re- 
spects to  that  in  Virginia.  Baltimore,  accustomed 
to  the  type  of  life  in  England,  expected  the  settle- 
ments in  Maryland  to  grow  into  towns  and  cities; 
and,  under  this  impression,  in  January,  1638,  he  erect- 
ed the  population  on  the  south  side  of  St.  George's 
River  into  a  "hundred,"  and  afterwards  created 
other  hundreds  in  other  parts  of  the  colony.  But 
the  wealth  of  watercourses  and  the  cultivation  of 
tobacco  caused  the  population  to  scatter,  and  made 
society  from  the  first  distinctly  agricultural  and 
rural.  St.  Mary's  and  St.  George's  Hundred,  in 
Maryland,  shared  the  fate  of  Jamestown  and  Ber- 
muda Hundred,  in  Virginia,  and  no  stimulus  of  legis- 
lation could  make  them  grow. 

The  application  of  the  powers  of  the  palatinate 
intensified  these  conditions  by  creating  an  agricult- 
ural and  landed  aristocracy.  There  was  a  council 
like  that  in  Durham,  whose  members,  appointed  by 
the  lord  proprietor,  held  all  the  great  offices  of  state. 

Outside  of  the  council  the  most  important  officer 
was  the  sheriff,  who,  like  the  sheriff  of  Durham,  ex- 
ecuted the  commands  of  the  governor  and  the  courts, 
of  which  there  were  (in  addition  to  the  council)  the 
county  court  and  the  manorial  courts,  answering 
respectively  to  the  court  of  quarter-sessions  and  the 


130  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1636 

courts  baron  and  leet  in  Durham.  As  for  the  ma- 
norial courts,  feudal  relicts  transplanted  to  America, 
they  sprang  from  Lord  Baltimore's  attempt  to  build 
up  an  aristocracy  like  that  which  attended  upon  the 
bishop  in  his  palace  in  Durham.  In  his  "  Conditions 
for  Plantations,"  August  8,  1636,  after  providing 
liberally  for  all  who  brought  emigrants  to  the  col- 
ony, he  directed  that  every  one  thousand  acres  or 
greater  quantity  so  given  to  any  adventurer  "  should 
be  erected  into  a  manor  with  a  court  -  baron  and 
court -leet  to  be  from  time  to  time  held  within 
every  such  manor  respectively." 

There  were  many  grants  of  one  thousand  acres  or 
more,  and  Maryland  "lords  of  the  manor"  became 
quite  common.  These  "lords"  were  the  official 
heads  of  numerous  tenants  and  leaseholders  who 
were  settled  on  their  large  estates.  Yet  the  manor, 
as  a  free-governing  community,  was  a  stronghold  of 
liberty.  At  the  courts  baron  and  leet  the  tenants 
elected  the  minor  officers,  tried  offences,  and.  made 
by-laws  for  their  own  government.  Later,  when 
negroes  substituted  white  laborers,  these  feudal 
manors  changed  to  plantations  worked  by  slaves 
instead  of  free  tenants.1 

Even  great  office-holders  and  a  landed  aristocracy 
were  insufficient  to  sustain  the  regal  dignity  to  which 
Lord  Baltimore  aspired.  Apparently,  his  right  of 
initiating  legislation  and  dictating  the  make-up  of 

1  Johnson,  Old  Maryland  Manors  (Johns  Hopkins  University 
Studies,  I.,  No.  iii.). 


1638]  FOUNDING   OF   MARYLAND  131 

the  assembly  ought  to  have  been  sufficient.  But 
political  and  social  equality  sprang  from  the  very 
conditions  of  life  in  the  New  World ;  and  despite  the 
veneering  of  royalty,  Maryland  came  soon  to  be  a 
government '  of  the  people.  The  struggle  began  in 
the  assembly  which  met  in  February,  1635,  but  not 
much  is  known  of  the  proceedings  of  this  assembly  be- 
yond the  fact  that  it  assumed  the  initiative  and  drew 
up  a  code  to  which  Lord  Baltimore  refused  his  assent. 

Of  subsequent  assemblies  the  record  is  copious 
enough.  Lord  Baltimore  had  the  right  under  his 
charter  to  summon  "all  the  freemen,  or  the  greater 
part  of  them,  or  their  representatives,"  and  thus  for 
a  long  time  there  was  a  curious  jumble  of  anomalies, 
which  rendered  the  assembly  peculiarly  sensitive  to 
governmental  influence.  The  second  assembly  met 
at  St.  Mary's,  January  25,  1638,  and  consisted  of  the 
governor  and  council,  freemen  specially  summoned, 
freemen  present  of  their  own  volition,  and  proxies.1 
Governor  Calvert  submitted  a  code  of  laws  sent  from 
Lord  Baltimore,  and  it  was  rejected  by  a  vote  of 
thirty -seven  to  fourteen;  but  twelve  of  the  minority 
votes  were  in  two  hands,  the  governor  and  Secretary 
Lewger,  an  illustration  of  the  danger  of  the  proxy 
system. 

Not  long  after,  in  a  letter  August  21,  1638,  the 
proprietor  yielded  by  authorizing  Leonard  in  the 
future  to  consent  to  laws  enacted  by  the  freemen, 
which  assent  should  temporarily  make  them  valid 

1  Md.  Archives,  I.,  1-24. 


132  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1650 

until  his  own  confirmation  or  rejection  should  be 
received.  To  the  next  assembly,  held  February 
25,  1639,  Leonard  Calvert,  instead  of  summoning 
all  the  freemen,  issued  writs  to  different  hundreds 
for  the  election  of  representatives. 

Among  the  laws  which  they  enacted  was  one 
limiting  seats  in  the  assembly  to  councillors,  persons 
specially  summoned  by  the  proprietor's  writ,  and 
burgesses  elected  by  the  people  of  the  different 
hundreds.  This  law  controlled  the  make-up  of  the 
next  four  assemblies  (October,  1640,  August,  1641, 
March  and  July,  1642).  Nevertheless,  in  Septem- 
ber, 1642,  Baltimore  reverted  to  the  old  practice. 

In  1649  Baltimore  made  another  and  last  attempt 
for  his  initiative.  He  sent  over  a  learned  and  com- 
plicated code  of  sixteen  laws  which  he  asked  the 
assembly  to  adopt;  but  they  rejected  his  work  and 
sent  him  a  code  of  their  own,  begging  him  in  their 
letter  not  to  send  them  any  more  such  "  bodies  of 
laws,  which  served  to  little  end  than  to  fill  our  heads 
with  jealousies  and  suspicions  of  that  which  we 
verily  understand  not."  The  next  year,  1650,  a 
constitutional  system  was  perfected  not  very  differ- 
ent from  the  plan  adopted  in  the  mother-country  and 
Virginia.  The  assembly  was  divided  into  two  cham- 
bers, the  lower  consisting  exclusively  of  burgesses 
representing  the  different  hundreds,  and  the  upper 
of  the  councillors  and  those  specially  summoned  by 
the  governor.1 

1  Md.  Archives,  I.,  32,  74,  243,  272. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

CONTENTIONS  IN  MARYLAND 
(1633-1652) 

THE  delay  in  the  constitutional  adjustment  of 
Maryland,  while  mainly  attributable  to  the 
proprietors,  was  partially  due  to  the  prolonged  strug- 
gle with  Virginia,  which  for  years  absorbed  nearly 
all  the  energies  of  the  infant  community.  The  de- 
cision of  the  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Planta- 
tions in  July,  1633,  disallowing  the  Virginia  claim 
to  unoccupied  lands,  was  construed  by  the  Virgin- 
ians to  mean  that  the  king  at  any  rate  intended  to 
respect  actual  possession.  Now,  prior  to  the  Mary- 
land charter,  colonization  in  Virginia  was  stretching 
northward.  In  1630,  Chiskiack,  on  the  York  River, 
was  settled;  and  in  August,  1631,  Claiborne  planted 
a  hundred  men  on  Kent  Island,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  from  Jamestown.1 

Though  established  under  a  license  from  the 
king  for  trade,  Kent  Island  had  all  the  appearance 
of  a  permanent  settlement.  Its  inhabitants  were 
never  at  any  time  as  badly  off  as  the  settlers  in  the 
early  days  at  Jamestown  and  Plymouth,  and  the 

1  Md.  Archives,  III.,  32. 
134 


1634]         CONTENTIONS   IN   MARYLAND  135 

island  itself  was  stocked  with  cattle  and  had  orchards 
and  gardens,  fields  of  tobacco,  windmills  for  grind- 
ing corn,  and  women  resident  upon  it.  Had  it, 
however,  been  only  a  trading-post,  the  extension 
over  it  of  the  laws  of  Virginia  made  the  settlement 
a  legal  occupation.  And  we  are  told  of  Kent  that 
warrants  from  Jamestown  were  directed  there. 
"  One  man  was  brought  down  and  tried  in  Virginia 
for  felony,  and  many  were  arrested  for  debt  and 
returned  to  appeare  at  James  City."  1  In  Feb- 
ruary, 1632,  Kent  Island  and  Chiskiack  were  rep- 
resented at  Jamestown  by  a  common  delegate, 
Captain  Nicholas  Martian.2  The  political  exist- 
ence of  the  whole  Virginia  colony,  and  its  right  to 
take  up  and  settle  lands,  the  king  expressly  recog- 
nized. 

Accordingly,  when  Leonard  Calvert,  on  his  arrival 
at  Point  Comfort  in  February,  1634,  called  upon 
Claiborne  to  recognize  Baltimore's  paramount  sov- 
ereignty over  Kent  Island,  because  of  its  lying 
within  the  limits  of  his  charter,  the  council  of  Vir- 
ginia, at  the  request  of  Claiborne,  considered  the 
claim,  and  declared  that  the  colony  had  as  much 
right  to  Kent  Island  as  to  "any  other  part  of  the 
country  given  by  his  majesty's  patent  in  1609."  3 
After  this,  acquiescence  in  Baltimore's  wishes  would 
have  been  treason,  and  Claiborne  declined  to 
acknowledge  Lord  Baltimore's  authority  in  Kent 

1  Md.  Archives,  V.,  158.  2  Hening,  Statutes,  I.,  154. 

8  Md.  Archives,  III.,  33. 


136  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1634 

Island,  and  continued  to  trade  in  the  bay  as  freely 
as  formerly. 

Calvert's  instructions1  had  been,  in  case  of  such 
a  refusal,  not  to  molest  Claiborne  for  at  least  a 
year.  But  Captain  Fleet,  Claiborne' s  rival  in  the 
fur  trade,  started  a  story  that  Claiborne  was  the 
originator  of  the  rumor  which  so  greatly  alarmed 
the  Indians  at  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  emi- 
grants at  St.  Mary's.  Though  Claiborne  promptly 
repelled  the  calumny,  Baltimore,  in  September, 
1634,  sent  an  order  to  his  brother  Leonard  to  seize 
Kent  Island,  arrest  Claiborne,  and  hold  him  pris- 
oner.2 As  this  mandate  was  contrary  to  the 
order  in  July,  1633,  of  the  lords  commissioners, 
which  enjoined  the  parties  to  preserve  "good  cor- 
respondence one  with  another,"  Claiborne's  part- 
ners petitioned  the  king  against  it. 

Thereupon  the  king,  by  an  order3  dated  October 
8,  1634,  peremptorily  warned  Lord  Baltimore,  or 
his  agents,  "not  to  interrupt  the  people  of  Kent 
Island  in  their  fur  trade  or  plantation."  Never- 
theless, April  5,  1635,  Thomas  Cornwallis,  one  of 
the  Maryland  councillors,  confiscated  a  pinnace  of 
Claiborne's  for  illegal  trading,  and  this  act  brought 
on  a  miniature  war  in  which  several  persons  on  both 
sides  were  killed.4  Great  excitement  prevailed  in 
both  colonies,  and  in  Virginia  the  people  arrested 


1  Browne,  George  and  Cecilius  Calvert,  49. 

2  Md.  Archives,  V.,  164-168.  8  Ibid.,  III.,  29. 
4  Neill,  Founders  of  Maryland,  51. 


1637]         CONTENTIONS   IN   MARYLAND          137 

Harvey,  their  governor,  who  upheld  Cornwallis's 
conduct,  and  shipped  him  off  to  England ;  while  two 
of  the  councillors  were  sent  to  Maryland  to  protest 
against  the  violent  proceedings  affecting  Claiborne.1 

These  measures  induced  a  truce,  and  for  nearly 
three  years  there  were  no  further  hostilities  in  the 
bay.  Claiborne  brought  his  case  before  the  king, 
who  referred  it  to  the  Lords  Commissioners  for 
Plantations;  then,  as  his  partners  feared  to  take 
further  risk,  he  carried  on  the  trade  in  the  bay  al- 
most solely  with  his  own  servants  and  resources. 
In  December,  1636,  these  partners,  becoming  dis- 
satisfied at  their  loss  of  profit,  made  the  capital  mis- 
take of  sending,  as  their  agent  to  Kent  Island, 
George  Evelin,  who  pretended  at  first  to  be  an 
ardent  supporter  of  Claiborne,  but  presently,  under 
a  power  of  attorney,  claimed  control  over  all  the 
partnership  stock. 

Claiborne,  naturally  indignant  and  not  suspecting 
any  danger,  sailed  for  England  in  May,  1637,  to 
settle  accounts  with  his  partners,  having  just  pre- 
viously established  another  settlement  on  Palmer's 
Island  at  the  mouth  of  the  Susquehanna  River,  be- 
lieved by  him  to  be  north  of  the  Maryland  patent. 
After  he  was  gone,  Evelin  tried  to  persuade  the  in- 
habitants to  disown  Claiborne  and  submit  to  Lord 
Baltimore;  and  when  they  declined  he  urged  Gov- 
ernor Calvert  to  attempt  the  reduction  of  the  island 
by  force.  After  some  hesitation  the  latter  con- 

1  Md.  Archives   III.,  37. 


138  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1638 

sen  ted,  and  while  the  assembly  was  sitting  at  St. 
Mary's,  in  February,  1638,  Calvert  made  a  landing 
at  night  with  thirty  men,  and,  taking  the  inhabi- 
tants by  surprise,  succeeded  in  reducing  the  island 
to  submission.1 

Calvert's  after-conduct  reflects  little  credit  upon 
his  reputation  for  leniency.  In  March,  1638,  he 
caused  Claiborne  to  be  attainted  by  the  assembly 
as  a  rebel  and  his  property  confiscated,  and  Thomas 
Smith,  who  commanded  one  of  Claiborne's  pinnaces 
in  the  battles  three  years  before,  was  tried  and 
hanged  for  murder  and  piracy.2  In  England,  in 
the  mean  time,  Claiborne  and  Baltimore  were  con- 
tending zealously  for  the  favor  of  the  king.  Both 
had  powerful  interests  behind  them,  but  Balti- 
more's were  the  stronger.  At  last  the  Commission- 
ers for  Foreign  Plantations  rendered  a  report  (April 
4,  1638),  giving  Kent  Island  and  the  right  of  trade 
in  the  bay  wholly  to  Lord  Baltimore,  leaving  all 
personal  wrongs  to  be  redressed  by  the  courts. 

The  question  of  title  at  least  seemed  settled,  and 
in  October,  1638,  Sir  John  Harvey,  now  restored  as 
governor  of  Virginia,  issued  a  proclamation  recog- 
nizing the  validity  of  the  decision.  Claiborne  sub- 
mitted, and,  being  left  to  "the  course  of  the  law," 
empowered  George  Scovell  to  recover,  if  possible, 
some  of  the  confiscated  property  in  Maryland;  but 
Scovell  was  told  that  the  law-courts  of  Maryland 

1  Browne,  George  and  Cecilius  C  advert,  69. 

2  Md,  Archives,  V.,  187. 


1648]          CONTENTIONS   IN   MARYLAND          139 

were  closed  against  such  a  rebel  as  Claiborne.1 
The  justice  of  the  English  decision  depends  on  the 
impartiality  of  the  board  which  made  it,  and  of  any 
board  with  Bishop  Laud  at  the  head  only  parti- 
sanship could  be  expected. 

While  these  turbulent  proceedings  were  going  on, 
the  Jesuit  priests  introduced  into  the  colony  by 
Lord  Baltimore  were  performing  a  work  of  peace 
and  love.  They  visited  the  Indian  tribes  and  made 
many  Christian  converts.  Tayac,  chief  of  the 
Piscataquas,  received  baptism,  and  his  example 
was  followed  by  the  chiefs  and  inhabitants  of  Port 
Tobacco.  The  main  trouble  came  from  the  Nan- 
ticokes  on  the  eastern  shore,  and  the  fierce  Susque- 
hannas  to  the  north  of  the  settlements,  and  at 
different  times  armed  expeditions  were  sent  out 
against  them;  but  there  was  nothing  like  a  war. 

For  sixteen  years  the  only  clergy  in  the  colony 
were  priests,  who  were  so  zealous  in  their  propaganda 
that  nearly  all  the  Protestants  who  came  in  1638 
were  converted  to  Catholicism  and  many  later  con- 
versions were  made.2  Nevertheless,  the  Catholic 
governor  and  council  acted  up  to  the  spirit  of  the 
instructions  given  by  Baltimore  to  his  brother  on 
the  sailing  of  the  first  emigrants  from  the  port  of 
London,  and  would  permit  no  language  tending  to 
insult  or  breach  of  peace.  Not  long  after  the  arrival 
at  St.  Mary's  a  proclamation  to  this  end  was  issued, 

1  Md.  Archives,  III.,  42-93. 

2  White,  Relation  (Force,  Tracts,  IV.,  No.  xii.). 


140  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1643 

of  which  only  two  violations  appear  in  the  records; 
in  both  cases  the  offenders  were  Roman  Catholics, 
and  they  were  arrested  and  promptly  punished.1 

Baltimore  would  not  even  exempt  the  Jesuit  priests 
in  Maryland  from  the  ordinary  laws  as  to  lands  and 
taxes,  and  by  the  "  Conditions  of  Plantations,"  pub- 
lished in  1648,  he  prohibited  any  society,  temporal  or 
spiritual,  from  taking  up  land.2  In  1643  n^s  liber- 
ality carried  him  so  far  as  to  induce  him  to  extend, 
through  Major  Edward  Gibbons,  an  invitation  to 
the  Puritans  of  Massachusetts  to  emigrate  to  Mary- 
land, with  a  full  assurance  of  "free  liberty  of  relig- 
ion"; but  Winthrop  grimly  writes,  "None  of  our 
people  had  temptation  that  way."  3 

In  the  year  of  this  invitation  the  possibility  of  a 
new  shuffle  of  the  political  cards  occurred  through 
the  breaking  out  of  the  war  so  long  brewing  in  Eng- 
land between  the  king  and  Parliament.  The  strug- 
gle of  party  made  itself  strongly  felt  in  Maryland, 
where,  among  the  Protestants,  sympathy  with  Par- 
liament was  supplemented  by  hatred  of  Catholics. 
In  1643,  Governor  Leonard  Calvert  repaired  to 
England,  where  he  received  letters  of  marque  from 
the  king  at  Oxford  commissioning  him  to  seize 
ships  belonging  to  Parliament.  Accordingly,  when, 
three  months  later,  in  January,  1644,  Captain 


1  Md.  Archives,  I.,  119,  IV.,  38. 

2  Calvert  Papers    (Md.    Hist.    Soc.,   Fund  Publications,    No. 
35),  166,  216,  217;  Md.  Archives,  III.,  227. 

8  Winthrop,  New  England,  II.,  179. 


1646]         CONTENTIONS    IN   MARYLAND  141 

Richard  Ingle  arrived  in  his  ship  at  St.  Mary's  and 
uttered  some  blatant  words  against  the  king,  he  was 
arrested  by  Acting  Governor  Brent,  for  treason. 
The  charges  were  dismissed  by  the  grand  jury  as 
unfounded,  but  Brent  treated  Ingle  harshly,  and 
fined  and  exiled  Thomas  Cornwallis  for  assisting  the 
captain  in  escaping.1 

In  September,  1644,  when  Calvert  returned  to 
Maryland,  there  were  strong  symptoms  of  revolt, 
which  came  to  a  head  when  Ingle  came  back  to 
St.  Mary's  with  a  commission  from  Parliament 
in  February,  1645.  Chaotic  times  ensued,  during 
which  Catholics  were  made  victims  of  the  cruel 
prejudices  of  the  Protestants.  The  two  Jesuit 
priests,  Father  Andrew  White  and  Father  Philip 
Fisher,  were  arrested,  loaded  with  irons,2  and  sent 
prisoners  into  England,  while  Leonard  Calvert  him- 
self was  driven  from  Maryland  into  Virginia.3 

During  these  tumults  so  many  persons  went  over 
from  Virginia  to  Maryland  that  the  Virginia  assem- 
bly sent  Captain  Edward  Hill  and  Captain  Thomas 
Willoughby  to  compel  the  return  of  the  absentees,4 
with  curious  result.  As  the  province  was  without  a 
governor,  some  of  the  council  of  Maryland  issued, 
in  the  name  of  the  refugee  Calvert,  a  commission  to 
Hill  to  act  as  governor  of  Maryland.  The  revolu- 
tionists flattered  themselves  that  a  stable  govern- 

1  Md.  Archives,  IV.,  246-249. 

2  Neill,  Founders  of  Maryland,  75;  Md.  Archives,  III.,    165, 
177.  3  Bozman,  Maryland,  II.,  293. 

4  Herring,  Statutes,  I.,  321. 

VOL.    IV. —  II 


142  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1646 

merit  under  a  Protestant  governor  was  now  at  hand. 
But  the  unexpected  came  to  pass,  when,  in  De- 
cember, 1646,  Governor  Calvert  suddenly  appeared 
with  a  strong  body  of  soldiers  furnished  by  Sir  Will- 
iam Berkeley  and  re-established  his  authority  by 
capturing  both  Hill  and  the  Protestant  assembly 
then  sitting  at  St.  Mary's. 

These  two  years  of  civil  war  in  Maryland  are 
called  the  "plundering  time."  Claiborne  again  ap- 
pears, though  there  is  no  evidence  that  he  had 
any  part  in  Ingle's  spoliations.1  He  did  visit 
Kent  Island  about  Christmas,  1645,  and  put  Cap- 
tain Brent,  to  whom  Governor  Calvert  had  as- 
signed his  house  and  property,  in  a  terrible  fright. 
Two  years  later  he  visited  the  island  a  second  time, 
when  he  offered  to  aid  the  Kent  Islanders  in  march- 
ing upon  St.  Mary's  with  a  view  of  reinstating  Hill. 
When  the  men  of  Kent  declined  to  take  the  risk, 
Claiborne  returned  to  Virginia,  and  Kent  Island  fell 
once  more  under  the  government  of  Lord  Balti- 
more.2 On  this  visit  Claiborne,  instead  of  posing 
as  a  friend  of  the  Parliament,  showed  a  commission 
and  letter  from  the  king,  by  whom  he  appears  to 
have  stood  till  the  king's  death  in  1649.  Charles, 
in  his  turn,  who  deposed  Lord  Baltimore  as  a  "no- 
torious parliamentarian,"  appointed  Claiborne,  in 
1642,  treasurer  of  Virginia,3  and  in  1650  included 

1  Bozman,  Maryland,  II.,  296. 

2  Md.  Archives,  IV.,  281,  435,  458,  459. 
8  Hazard,  State  Papers,  I.,  493. 


1649]         CONTENTIONS   IN    MARYLAND  143 

his  name  among  the  list  of  councillors  in  the  com- 
mission issued  to  Sir  William  Berkeley.1 

While  Maryland  was  thus  convulsed  with  civil 
war  an  ordinance  settling  the  Maryland  govern- 
ment in  Protestant  hands  passed  the  House  of 
Lords.  Before  the  Commons  could  concur,  Lord 
Baltimore  appeared  and  asked  for  time  to  inquire 
into  the  charges.  This  was  after  the  battle  of  Mars- 
ton  Moor,  and  perhaps  marks  the  moment  when 
Lord  Baltimore,  conceiving  the  king's  cause  des- 
perate, began  to  trim  his  sails  to  the  parliamentary 
side.  His  request  was  granted,  and  Parliament, 
diverted  from  immediate  action,  left  Baltimore's 
authority  unaffected  for  several  years.2 

In  this  interval  Baltimore  busied  himself  in  re- 
organizing his  government  on  a  Protestant  basis. 
Leonard  Calvert  died  in  June,  1647,  not  l°ng  after 
his  coup  d'etat  at  St.  Mary's,  and  upon  his  death- 
bed he  appointed  Thomas  Greene,  a  Catholic  and 
royalist,  as  his  successor.  Lord  Baltimore  re- 
moved him  and  appointed  in  his  stead  a  Protestant, 
Captain  William  Stone,  of  Northampton  County, 
Virginia,  giving  him  a  Protestant  secretary  and  a 
Protestant  majority  of  councillors.  Yet  Baltimore 
took  care  not  to  surrender  the  cardinal  principle  of 
his  government.  Before  Stone  and  his  chief  officers 
were  allowed  to  take  office  they  were  required  to 
swear  not  to  "molest  any  person  in  the  colony  pro- 

1  Cat.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  p.  340. 
8  Md.  Archives,  III.,  164,  180,  187. 


i44  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1649 

fessing  to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  for  or  in  respect 
of  his  or  her  religion,  and  in  particular  no  Roman 
Catholic."  l 

The  famous  Toleration  Act  of  1649  was  passed  at 
the  first  assembly  succeeding  Stone's  appointment. 
It  was  very  probably  in  great  part  a  copy  of  a  bill  in 
the  code  of  sixteen  laws  which  Baltimore  sent  over 
at  this  time,  and  it  very  nearly  repeated  the  provi- 
sions of  the  oath  required  of  Governor  Stone.  While 
the  terms  of  the  act  did  not  place  the  right  on  that 
broad  plane  of  universal  principle  stated  later  in  the 
Virginia  Declaration  of  Rights,  it  proclaimed  tolera- 
tion, even  if  it  was  a  toleration  of  a  very  limited 
nature.2 

Stone  had  recommended  himself  to  Calvert  by 
promising  to  lead  five  hundred  persons  of  British  or 
Irish  descent 3  into  Maryland ;  and  this  engagement 
he  was  soon  able  to  perform  through  the  Puritans, 
whose  story  of  persecution  in  Virginia  has  been 
already  related.  The  new  emigrants  called  the 
country  where  they  settled  "Providence,"  from 
feelings  akin  to  those  which  led  Roger  Williams  to 
give  that  comforting  name  to  his  settlement  on 
Narragansett  Bay.  They  were  to  prove  a  thorn  in 
Baltimore's  flesh,  but  for  the  moment  they  seemed 
tolerably  submissive.  In  January,  1650,  soon  after 
their  arrival,  Governor  Stone  called  an  assembly  to 
meet  at  St.  Mary's  in  April,  and  to  this  assembly 

1  Md.  Archives,  III.,  211,  214, 

2  Ibid.,  I.,  244-247.  *  Ibid.,  III.,  201. 


1650]         CONTENTIONS   IN   MARYLAND  145 

the  colony  at  "Providence"  sent  two  representa- 
tives, one  of  whom  was  made  speaker. 

Apprehension  of  William  Claiborne  was  still  felt, 
and  the  assembly,  though  dominated  by  the  new- 
comers, declared  their  readiness  to  resist  any  at- 
tempts of  his  to  seize  Kent  Island.1  Only  in  one 
particular  at  this  time  did  they  oppose  Lord  Balti- 
more's policy.  The  oath  of  fidelity  required  them 
to  acknowledge  Lord  Baltimore  as  "absolute  lord  " 
and  his  jurisdiction  as  "royal  jurisdiction."  2  The 
Puritans,  having  scruples  about  these  words,  struck 
them  out  and  inserted  a  proviso  that  the  oath  "be 
not  in  any  wise  understood  to  infringe  or  prejudice 
liberty  of  conscience."  3  About  this  time  Charles 
II.,  although  a  powerless  exile,  issued  an  order  de- 
posing Baltimore  from  his  government  and  appoint- 
ing Sir  William  Davenant  as  his  successor,  for  the 
reason  that  Baltimore  "did  visibly  adhere  to  the 
rebels  in  England  and  admit  all  kinds  of  schis- 
matics and  sectaries  and  ill-affected  persons  into 
the  plantation."  4 

Thus  when  Parliament  soon  after  took  up  his  case 
again,  Lord  Baltimore  came  full-handed  with  proofs 
of  loyalty  to  the  commonwealth.  His  enemies  pro- 
duced evidence  that  Charles  II.,  in  1649,  was  pro- 
claimed in  Maryland ,  but  Baltimore  showed  that  it 
was  done  without  his  authority  by  Thomas  Greene, 
who  acted  as  governor  a  second  time  during  a  brief 

1  Md.  Archives,  I.,  261,  287.  2  Ibid.,  III.,  196. 

8  Ibid.,  I.,  305.  4  Neill,  Terra  Maria,  88. 


146  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1650 

absence  of  Captain  Stone  from  Maryland.  When 
they  accused  him  of  being  an  enemy  of  Protestants 
he  produced  the  proclamation  of  Charles  II.,  depos- 
ing him  from  the  government  on  account  of  his  ad- 
herence to  them.  Finally,  he  exhibited  a  declaration 
in  his  behalf  signed  by  many  of  the  Puritan  emi- 
grants from  Virginia,  among  whom  were  William 
Durand,  their  elder,  and  James  Cox  and  Samuel 
Puddington,  the  two  burgesses  from  Providence  in 
the  assembly  of  I650.1 

Nevertheless,  Baltimore  played  a  losing  game. 
At  heart  the  Puritans  in  England  were  unfriendly 
to  him  because  of  his  religion ;  and,  when  persistent 
rumors  reached  Maryland  that  Baltimore's  patent 
was  doomed,  some  of  the  men  of  Providence  ap- 
peared in  England  and  urged  that  it  be  revoked.2 
At  length,  October  3,  1650,  Parliament  passed  an 
ordinance  authorizing  the  Council  of  State  to  reduce 
to  obedience  Barbadoes,  Antigua,  Bermudas,  and 
"Virginia,"  the  last  being  a  term  which  in  England 
was  often  used  to  include  Maryland.  Baltimore 
struggled  hard  to  have  Maryland  left  out  of  the 
instructions  drawn  up  afterwards  by  the  Council 
of  State;  but  though  he  was  apparently  successful, 
a  descriptive  phrase  including  his  province  was  in- 
serted, for  the  commissioners,  Curtis,  Claiborne,  and 
Bennett,  with  an  armed  fleet,  were  instructed  "to 
use  their  best  endeavors  to  reduce  all  the  plantations 

1  Bozman,  Maryland,  II.,  672. 

2  Md.  Archives,  III.,  259. 


1652]         CONTENTIONS   IN   MARYLAND  147 

within  the  Bay  of  Chesopiack  to  their  due  obedience 
to  the  Parliament  of  England."1 

After  the  commissioners  had  reduced  Virginia, 
they  found  even  less  resistance  in  Maryland.  The 
commissioners  landed  at  St.  Mary's,  and,  professing 
their  intention  to  respect  the  "just  rights"  of  Lord 
Baltimore,  demanded  that  Stone  should  change  the 
form  of  the  writs  from  the  name  of  Lord  Baltimore 
to  that  of  Parliament.  Stone  at  first  declined  to 
comply,  and  the  commissioners,  March  29,  1652,  put 
the  government  into  the  hands  of  a  council  of  leading 
Protestants.  Stone  then  reconsidered  his  action, 
and  Claiborne  and  Bennett,  returning  to  St.  Mary's, 
restored  him  to  the  government,  June  28,  1652,  in 
conjunction  with  the  cotincillors  already  appointed. 
The  ascendency  of  Claiborne  seemed  complete,  but 
beyond  renewing  his  property  claim  to  Kent  and 
Palmer  islands,  he  did  not  then  further  interfere.2 

Maryland  consisted  at  this  time  of  four  counties : 
St.  Mary's,  erected  in  1634,  Kent,  1642,  and  Charles 
and  Anne  Arundel  in  1 6  5  o ,  and  contained  a  pop  illation 
perhaps  of  eight  thousand .  The  settlements  reached 
on  both  sides  of  the  bay,  from  the  Potomac  to  the 
Susquehanna.  Society  was  distinctly  democratic, 
for  while  there  were  favored  families  there  was  no 
privileged  class,  and  the  existence  of  African  slavery 
and  the  temporary  servitude  of  convicts  and  re- 
demptioners  tended  to  place  all  freemen  on  an 
equality.  As  there  was  no  state  church,  educational 
1  M d.  Archives,  III.,  265.  2  Ibid.,  271-277. 


148  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1652 

opportunities  in  the  province  were  small,  but  it  was 
a  land  of  plenty  and  hospitality,  and  charity  in  re- 
ligion made  the  execution  of  the  criminal  law  sin- 
gularly mild.  In  spite  of  turmoils  and  dissensions, 
Maryland  prospered  and  flourished.  A  home  feeling 
existed,  and  there  were  many  even  among  the  recent 
exiles  from  Virginia  who  looked  with  hope  to  its 
future  and  spoke  of  it  as  "a  country  in  which  I 
desire  to  spend  the  remnant  of  my  days,  in  which  I 
•covet  to  make  my  grave."  * 

1  Hammond,  Leah  and  Rachel  (Force,  Tracts,  III.,  No.  xiv.). 


CHAPTER  IX 

FOUNDING   OF   PLYMOUTH 
(1608-1630) 

AFTER  the  disastrous  failure  of  the  Popham 
/v  colony  in  1608  the  Plymouth  Company  for 
several  years  was  inactive.  Its  members  were  lack- 
ing in  enthusiastic  co-operation,  and  therefore  did 
not  attract,  like  the  London  Company,  the  money 
and  energy  of  the  nation.  After  Sir  John  Pop- 
ham's  death,  in  1607,  his  son  Francis  Popham  was 
chiefly  instrumental  in  sending  out  several  vessels, 
which,  though  despatched  for  trade,  served  to  keep 
up  interest  in  the  northern  shores  of  America. 

That  coast  threatened  to  be  lost  to  Englishmen,  for 
the  French,  in  1603,  began  to  make  settlements  in 
Nova  Scotia  and  in  Mount  Desert  Island,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Penobscot,  while  their  ships  sailed 
southward  along  the  New  England  shores.  The 
Dutch,  too,  explored  the  Hudson  (1609)  and  pre- 
pared the  way  for  a  colony  there.  It  was,  there- 
fore, a  great  service  to  England  when  Captain  Argall, 
under  the  authority  of  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  in  1613, 
dislodged  the  French  at  Mount  Desert,  Port  Royal, 
and  St.  Croix. 

149 


150  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1614 

Shortly  after  Argall's  visit  John  Smith  sailed,  in 
1614,  for  the  northern  coast,  with  two  ships  fitted  out 
by  some  private  adventurers.  While  the  ships  were 
taking  a  freight  of  fish,  Smith,  with  a  view  to  colo- 
nization, ranged  the  neighboring  coast,  collecting 
furs  from  the  natives,  taking  notes  of  the  shores 
and  the  islands,  and  making  soundings  of  the  water. 
Smith  drew  a  map  of  the  country,  and  was  the 
first  to  call  it  "New  England"  instead  of  North 
Virginia,  Norumbega,  or  Canada.  This  map  he 
submitted  to  Prince  Charles,  who  gave  names  to 
some  thirty  points  on  the  coast.  Only  Plymouth, 
Charles  River,  and  Cape  Ann  have  permanently 
kept  the  names  thus  fastened  upon  them.  Boston, 
Hull,  Cambridge,  and  some  others  were  subsequent- 
ly adopted,  but  applied  to  localities  different  from 
those  to  which  Prince  Charles  affixed  them. 

While  he  was  absent  one  day  Thomas  Hunt, 
master  of  one  of  his  vessels,  kidnapped  twenty-four 
savages,  and,  setting  sail,  carried  them  to  Spain, 
where  he  sold  most  of  them.  The  outrage  soured 
the  Indians  in  New  England,  but  of  the  captives, 
one,  named  Squanto  or  Tisquantum,  was  carried  to 
England,  and  his  later  friendliness  worked  to  the 
benefit  of  subsequent  English  colonization.1 

In  1615  Captain  Smith  entered  into  the  service 
of  the  Plymouth  Company  and  was  complimented 
with  the  title  of  "  Admiral  of  New  England."  With 

1  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  699;  Bradford,  Plimoth  Planta- 
tion, 117. 


1617]  FOUNDING   OF   PLYMOUTH  151 

great  difficulty  they  provided  two  ships  and  de- 
spatched them  to  effect  a  settlement,  but  the  result 
was  the  old  story  of  misfortune.  The  ship  in  which 
Smith  sailed  was  captured  by  the  French,  and  Smith 
himself  was  detained  in  captivity  for  some  time. 
Captain  Dormer,  with  the  other  vessel,  proceeded 
on  his  voyage  to  New  England,  but  did  not  attempt 
anything  beyond  securing  a  cargo  of  furs. 

Smith  tried  to  stir  up  interest  in  another  expe- 
dition, and  travelled  about  England  in  1616,  dis- 
tributing his  maps  and  other  writings,  but  he  says 
"  all  availed  no  more  than  to  hew  rocks  with  oyster- 
shells."  Smith's  connection  with  the  American 
coast  then  ceased  altogether;  but  his  plans  of 
colonization  were  not  without  fruit,  since  his  liter- 
ary works,  making  known  the  advantages  of  New 
England,  kept  the  attention  of  the  public  fastened 
upon  that  region.1 

At  this  time  the  most  prominent  member  of  the 
Plymouth  Company  was  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  son 
of  Edward  Gorges,  of  Worcestershire,  born  about 
1566.  He  served  at  Sluys  in  1587,  was  knighted  by 
Essex  before  Rouen,  in  October,  1591,  and  in  1593 
was  made  governor  of  the  port  of  Plymouth  in  Eng- 
land, which  office  he  still  held.  Despite  the  ill- 
fortune  attending  past  efforts,  he  continued  to  send 
out  vessels  under  color  of  fishing  and  trade,  which 
ranged  the  coast  of  New  England  and  brought  news 
of  a  calamity  to  the  natives  unexpectedly  favorable 

1  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  699-701,  731-742,  745. 


152  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1617 

to  future  colonization.  In  1616-1617  the  country 
from  Penobscot  River  to  Narragansett  Bay  was  al- 
most left  "void  of  inhabitants"  by  a  pestilence 
which  swept  away  entire  villages  of  Indians.  This 
information,  together  with  the  better  knowledge 
due  to  Gorges  of  the  value  of  the  fisheries,  caused  a 
revival  of  interest  regarding  New  Er  gland  among 
the  members  of  the  Plymouth  Company,1 

Under  the  name  of  "the  Council  for  New  Eng- 
land," they  obtained  from  the  king  in  1620  a  new 
charter,2  granting  to  them  all  the  territory  in 
North  America  extending  ' '  in  breadth  from  forty 
degrees  of  northerly  latitude,  from  the  equinoctial 
line,  to  forty-eight  degrees  of  the  said  northerly  lati- 
tude, and  in  length  by  all  the  breadth  aforesaid 
throughout  the  main -land  from  sea  to  sea."  In  the 
new  grant  the  number  of  grantees  was  limited  to 
forty,  and  all  other  persons  enjoying  rights  in  the 
company's  lands  stood  in  the  position  of  their  ten- 
ants. Thus,  like  the  Plymouth  Company,  the  new 
company  proved  defective  in  co-operative  power,  and 
the  first  actual  settlement  of  New  England  was  due 
to  an  influence  little  fancied  by  any  of  its  members. 

Religious  opinions  during  the  sixteenth  and  sev- 
enteenth centuries  were  great  political  forces.  The 
Christian  church  of  Europe,  before  the  days  of 
Luther,  held  the  view  that  the  pope  of  Rome  was 

1  Gorges,   Description   of   New    England    (Mass.    Hist.    Soc., 
Collections,  3cl  series,  VI.),  57. 

2  Poore,  Charters  and  Constitutions,  I.,  921. 


1620]  FOUNDING   OF   PLYMOUTH  153 

the  only  infallible  interpreter  of  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
and  against  this  doctrine  Luther  led  a  revolt  de- 
nominated Protestantism,  which  insisted  upon  the 
right  of  private  judgment.  Nevertheless,  when  the 
reformed  churches  came  to  adopt  articles  and  canons 
of  their  own  they  generally  discarded  this  funda- 
mental difference,  and,  affirming  infallibility  in  them- 
selves, enlisted  the  civil  power  in  support  of  their 
doctrines. 

Hence,  in  1559,  Queen  Elizabeth  caused  her  Par- 
liament to  pass  two  famous  statutes,  the  Act  of 
Supremacy,  which  required  all  clergymen  and  office- 
holders to  renounce  the  spiritual  as  well  as  temporal 
jurisdiction  of  all  foreign  princes  and  prelates;  and 
the  Act  of  Uniformity,  which  forbade  any  minister 
from  using  any  other  liturgy  or  service  than  that 
established  by  Parliament.1 

These  acts,  though  directed  originally  against  the 
Roman  Catholics,  were  resented  by  many  zealous 
English  clergymen  who,  during  the  reign  of  Queen 
Mary,  had  taken  refuge  in  Switzerland  and  Germany, 
and  learned  while  there  the  spiritual  and  political 
doctrines  of  John  Calvin.  These  English  refugees 
were  the  first  Puritans,  and  in  the  beginning  the 
large  majority  had  no  desire  of  separating  from  the 
church  of  which  the  sovereign  was  the  head,  but 
thought  to  reform  it  from  within,  according  to  their 
own  views  of  ecclesiastical  policy.  They  wanted, 
among  other  things,  to  discard  the  surplice  and  Book 

1  Cf.  Cheyney,  European  Background  of  Am.  Hist.,  chap.  xi. 


154  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1583 

of  Common  Prayer  and  to  abolish  the  order  of  bish- 
ops. Queen  Elizabeth  looked  upon  their  opinions 
as  dangerous,  and  harassed  them  before  the  Court 
of  High  Commission,  created  in  1583  for  enforcing 
the  acts  of  supremacy  and  uniformity.  But  her 
persecution  increased  rather  than  diminished  the 
opposition,  and  finally  there  arose  a  sect  called 
Independents,  who  flatly  denied  the  ecclesiastical 
supremacy  of  the  queen  and  claimed  the  right  to  set 
up  separate  churches  of  their  own.  The  Scotch 
Calvinists  worked  out  an  elaborate  form  of  Presby- 
terian government,  by  synods  and  assemblies,  which 
later  played  a  great  part  in  England. 

For  a  long  time  the  "Separatists,"  as  they  were 
called,  were  as  unpopular  with  the  great  body  of 
Puritans  as  with  the  churchmen.  Popular  aver- 
sion was  expressed  by  the  derisive  name  of  ' '  Brown- 
ists,"  given  them  from  Robert  Browne,  the  first  to 
set  forth  their  doctrines  in  a  formal  pamphlet,  en- 
titled The  Life  and  Manners  of  True  Christians. 
Their  meetings  were  broken  up  by  mobs,  and  wor- 
shippers were  subjected  to  insults.1 

Holland  at  that  time  was  the  only  country  en- 
lightened enough  to  open  its  doors  to  all  religions 
prof essing  Jesus  Christ;  and  as  early  as  1593  a  Sep- 
aratist congregation,  which  had  come  into  existence 
at  London,  took  refuge  at  Amsterdam,  and  they 
were  followed  by  many  other  persons  persecuted 

1  Neal,  Puritans,  I.,  149-151,  202;  cf.  Cheyney,  European 
Background  of  Am.  Hist.,  chap,  xii. 


1607]  FOUNDING   OF   PLYMOUTH  155 

under  the  laws  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  When  she  died, 
in  1603,  there  were  hopes  at  first  of  a  milder  policy 
from  King  James,  but  they  were  speedily  dispelled, 
and  at  a  conference  of  Puritans  and  High  Church- 
men at  Hampton  Court  in  1604  the  king  warned  dis- 
senters, "  I  will  make  them  conform  or  I  will  harry 
them  out  of  this  land,  or  else  worse" ;  and  he  was  as 
good  as  his  word.1 

Several  congregations  of  Separatists  were  located  in 
the  northeastern  part  of  England,  in  £ome  towns  and 
villages  in  Nottinghamshire,  Lincolnshire,  and  York- 
shire. One  held  meetings,  under  Rev.  John  Smith, 
a  Cambridge  graduate,  at  Gainsborough,  and  an- 
other, under  Richard  Clifton  as  pastor  and  John 
Robinson  as  teacher,  at  the  small  village  of  Scrooby. 
Persecuted  by  the  king's  officers,  these  congregations 
began  to  consider  the  advisability  of  joining  their 
brethren  in  Holland.  That  of  Gainsborough  was 
the  first  to  emigrate,  and,  following  the  example  of 
the  London  church,  it  settled  at  Amsterdam. 

In  the  second,  or  Scrooby,  congregation,  destined 
to  furnish  the  "Pilgrim  Fathers"  of  New  England,2 
three  men  were  conspicuous  as  leaders.  The  first 
was  John  Robinson,  a  man,  according  to  the  testi- 
mony of  an  opponent,  of  "excellent  parts,  and  the 
most  learned,  polished,  and  modest  spirit  "  that  ever 
separated  from  the  church  of  England.  The  second 
was  the  elder,  William  Brewster,  like  Robinson, 

1  Neal,  Puritans,  I.,  232;  Hart,  Source-Book,  No.  15. 
3  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  13. 


156  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1607 

educated  at  Cambridge,  who  had  served  as  one  of 
the  under-secretaries  of  state  for  many  years.  After 
the  downfall  of  his  patron,  Secretary  Davison,  he 
accepted  the  position  of  postmaster  and  went  to 
live  at  Scrooby  in  an  old  manor  house  of  Sir  Samuel 
Sandys,  the  elder  brother  of  Sir  Edwin  Sandys, 
where,  in  the  great  hall,  the  Separatists  held  their 
meetings.1  The  third  character  was  William  Brad- 
ford, born  at  Austerfield,  a  village  neighboring  to 
Scrooby,  and  at  the  time  of  the  flight  from  Eng- 
land seventeen  years  of  age,  afterwards  noted  for 
his  ability  and  loftiness  of  character. 

In  1607  the  Scrooby  congregation  made  their 
first  attempt  to  escape  into  Holland.  A  large  party 
of  them  hired  a  ship  at  Boston,  in  Lincolnshire,  but 
the  captain  betrayed  them  to  the  officers  of  the  law, 
who  rifled  them  of  their  money  and  goods  and  con- 
fined them  for  about  a  month  in  jail.  The  next  year 
another  party  made  an  attempt  to  leave.  The  cap- 
tain, who  was  a  Dutchman,  started  to  take  the  men 
aboard,  but  after  the  first  boat-load  he  saw  a  party 
of  soldiers  approaching,  and,  "  swearing  his  countries 
oath  Sacramente,  and  having  the  wind  faire,  weighed 
anchor,  hoysted  sayles  &  away."  The  little  band 
was  thus  miserably  separated,  and  men  and  women 
suffered  many  misfortunes;  but  in  the  end,  by  one 
means  or  another,  all  made  good  their  escape  from 
England  and  met  together  in  the  city  of  Amster- 
dam. 

1  Hunter,  Founders  of  New  Plymouth. 


1609]  FOUNDING   OF   PLYMOUTH  157 

They  found  there  both  the  church  of  the  London 
Separatists  and  that  of  the  Gainsborough  people 
stirred  up  over  theological  questions,  which  bid  fair 
to  tear  them  to  pieces.  Hence,  Robinson  deter- 
mined to  remove  his  flock,  and  in  May,  1609,  they 
made  the  city  of  Leyden,  twenty  miles  distant,  their 
permanent  abode.  Their  pastor,  Richard  Clifton, 
remained  in  Amsterdam,  and  the  care  of  the  congre- 
gation in  their  new  home  was  confided  to  John  Robin- 
son and  William  Brews ter.1 

In  Leyden  the  Pilgrims  were  compelled  to  adapt 
themselves,  as  they  had  in  Amsterdam,  to  conditions 
of  life  very  different  from  those  to  which  they  had 
been  trained  in  their  own  country.  As  far  as  they 
can  be  traced,  a  majority  seem  to  have  found  em- 
ployment in  the  manufacture  of  woollen  goods,  for 
which  the  city  was  famous.  Their  uprightness, 
diligence,  and  sobriety  gave  them  a  good  name  and 
pecuniary  credit  with  their  Dutch  neighbors,  who 
testified  twelve  years  later  that  in  all  their  stay  in 
Holland  "we  never  had  any  suit  or  accusation 
against  any  of  them." 2 

To  Robinson,  Brewster,  and  Bradford  the  change 
was  a  decided  gain.  As  the  site  of  a  great  univer- 
sity, Leyden  furnished  them  intercourse  with  learned 
men  and  access  to  valuable  libraries.  Robinson 
was  admitted  a  member  of  the  university,  and  be- 
fore long  appeared  as  a  disputant  on  the  Calvinist 
side  in  the  public  discussions.  Brewster  taught  the 

1  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  15-29.  2  Ibid.,  27. 

VOL.   IV. — 12 


158  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1609 

English  language  to  the  Dutch,  and,  opening  a  pub- 
lishing house,  printed  many  theological  books.  Brad- 
ford devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  the  ancient 
languages,  "to  see  with  his  own  eyes  the  ancient 
oracles  of  God  in  all  their  native  beauty."  l 

Their  stay  at  Leyden  covered  the  period  of  the 
famous  twelve  years'  truce  between  Spain  and  Hol- 
land, and  their  number  increased  from  one  hun- 
dred to  three  hundred.  Among  the  new-comers 
from  England  were  John  Carver,  Robert  Cushman, 
Miles  Standish,  and  Edward  Winslow.  Towards  the 
end  of  the  period  the  exiles  began  to  think  of  a 
second  emigration,  and  this  time  it  was  not  perse- 
cution that  suggested  the  thought.  In  expectation 
of  the  renewal  of  hostilities  with  Spain,  the  streets 
of  Leyden  sounded  with  the  beating  of  drums  and 
preparations  of  war.  Although  Holland  afforded 
them  religious  freedom,  they  won  their  subsistence 
at  the  price  of  unremitting  toil,  which  might  be  made 
even  harder  by  renewal  of  hostilities.  A  more  senti- 
mental reason  was  found  in  the  desire  to  perpetuate 
their  existence  as  a  religious  body  of  Englishmen. 

By  the  summer  of  1617  the  majority  of  the 
Scrooby  congregation  had  fully  decided  to  emigrate, 
and  it  only  remained  to  determine  the  new  place  of 
residence.  Some  talked  of  Guiana,  others  of  New 
York,  but  the  majority  inclined  to  Virginia ;  and  the 
conclusion  was  to  emigrate  as  a  distinct  body  to  a 

1  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  28,  488-493;  Mather,  Magna- 
lia,  I.,  113. 


1 620]  FOUNDING   OF   PLYMOUTH  159 

place  under  the  London  Company,  but  not  so  near 
Jamestown  as  to  be  troubled  by  the  Episcopalian 
planters  there. 

With  this  design  they  sent  two  of  their  number, 
John  Carver  and  Robert  Cushman,  to  London,  and 
Sir  Edwin  Sandys  tried  to  obtain  for  them  a  patent 
recognizing  their  religious  rights.  To  aid  him,  Rob- 
inson and  Brewster  drew  up  a  confession  of  faith 
which,  as  it  contains  an  admission  of  the  right  of 
the  state  to  control  religion,  seems  strangely  at 
variance  with  the  doctrines  of  the  Separatists.  But 
the  king  was  not  easily  persuaded,  and  he  promised 
only  that ' '  he  would  connive  at  them  and  not  molest 
them,  provided  they  carried  themselves  peaceably."  * 

Sandys  passed  through  the  London  Company  two 
"particular  patents"  in  their  behalf,  one  taken  out 
in  the  name  of  John  Wincop  and  the  other  in  that 
of  John  Pierce,  two  of  their  associates  in  England; 
under  the  latter,  granted  in  February,  1620,  the 
Pilgrims  prepared  to  leave  Holland.2  Capital  to 
the  amount  of  £7000  was  furnished  by  seventy  mer- 
chant adventurers  in  London,  and  it  was  agreed 
with  them  that  for  several  years  everything  was  to 
be  held  in  joint  stock,  the  shares  of  which  were  to 
be  valued  at  £10  each  and  to  be  paid  for  in  money 
or  by  personal  service.3 


1  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  29-38. 

2  Brown,  First  Republic,  424. 

3  Smith,  Works  (Arber's  ed.),  783;  Bradford,  Plimoth  Planta- 
tion, 56-58. 


160  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1620 

As  they  had  not  resources  for  all  to  go,  the  major 
part  of  the  congregation,  with  Robinson,  stayed  be- 
hind, promising  to  follow  later.  The  emigrants 
under  Carver,  Bradford,  and  Brewster  started  out 
from  Delft  Haven  in  July,  1620,  in  the  leaky  ship 
the  Speedwell.  At  Southampton,  in  England,  they 
met  the  Mayflower  with  friends  from  London,  and 
soon  after  both  ships  made  an  attempt  to  start  to 
sea.  They  had  not  sailed  pny  distance  before  the 
Speedwell  let  in  so  much  water  that  it  was  necessary 
to  put  in  at  Dartmouth  for  repairs.  Again  they  set 
sail,  and  this  time  they  had  left  old  England  one 
hundred  leagues  behind  when  the  captain  reported 
the  Speedwell  in  danger  of  foundering.  There  was 
nothing  to  do  but  to  bear  up  again  and  return  to 
England,  where  they  put  in  at  Plymouth.  Upon 
examination  the  Speedwell  was  pronounced  unsea- 
worthy  and  sent  to  London  with  about  twenty  of 
the  company.  With  the  rest,  one  hundred  and  two 
in  number,  the  Mayflower  cleared  the  port,  Septem- 
ber 6,  for  America. 

Her  destination  was  some  point  south  of  the 
Hudson  River,  within  the  Virginia  patent;  but  foul 
weather  prevented  any  accurate  calculation,  and 
November  9,  1620,  the  emigrants  found  themselves 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Cape  Cod.  They  tacked  and 
sailed  southward,  but  ran  into  "dangerous  shoals 
and  roaring  breakers, "  which  compelled  them  to 
turn  back  and  seek  shelter  in  the  harbor  now  called 
Provincetown.  The  anxiety  of  the  sailors  to  be  rid  of 


1620]  FOUNDING   OF   PLYMOUTH  161 

the  emigrants  prevented  any  further  attempt  south- 
ward, and  forced  them  to  make  their  permanent 
habitation  near  this  accidental  lodgment. 

As  the  patent  under  which  they  sailed  had  no 
force  in  the  territory  of  the  Plymouth  Company, 
they  united  themselves  by  the  so-called  "  Mayflower 
compact,"  November  n,  1620,  into  a  "civill  body 
politic,"  and  promised  "submission  and  obedience 
to  all  such  ordinances  as  the  general  good  of  the 
colony  might  require  from  time  to  time."  Under 
the  patent  John  Carver  had  been  chosen  governor, 
and  he  was  now  confirmed  in  that  office  under  the 
new  authority,  which  followed  pretty  nearly  the 
terms  of  the  old.1 

For  five  weeks  they  stayed  in  the  ship,  while 
Captain  Miles  Standish  with  a  small  company  ex- 
plored the  country.  In  the  third  expedition,  after 
an  attack  from  the  Indians  and  much  suffering 
from  snow  and  sleet,  Standish' s  men  reached  a  land- 
ing nearly  opposite  to  the  point  of  Cape  Cod,  which 
they  sounded  and  "found  fit  for  shipping."  There 
"divers  cornfields"  and  an  excellent  stream  of  fresh 
water  encouraged  settlement,  and  they  landed, 
December  u  (Old  Style),  1620,  near  a  large  bowlder, 
since  known  as  Plymouth  Rock. 

By  the  end  of  the  week  the  Mayflower  had  brought 
over  her  company  of  emigrants  —  seventy  -  three 
males  and  twenty -nine  females — and  December  25, 

1  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  90—110;  Eggleston,  Beginners 
of  a  Nation,  184,  note  4. 


162  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1620 

1620,  they  began  to  erect  the  first  house  "for  the 
common  use  to  receive  them  and  their  goods." 
The  Indian  name  of  the  place  was  Patuxet,  but  the 
emigrants  called  it  New  Plymouth  "  after  Plymouth, 
in  old  England,  the  last  town  they  left  in  their  na- 
tive country";1  and  it  was  a  curious  coincidence 
that  the  spot  had  already  received  from  John  Smith 
the  name  of  Plymouth.  Later  the  town  was  called 
simply  Plymouth,  while  the  colony  took  the  name 
of  New  Plymouth. 

1  Morton,  New  England's  Memorial,  56. 


CHAPTER   X 

DEVELOPMENT   OF   NEW   PLYMOUTH 
(1621-1643) 

DURING  the  winter  of  1620-1621  the  emigrants 
suffered  greatly  from  scurvy  and  exposure. 
More  than  half  the  company  perished,  and  the  sea- 
men on  the  Mayflower  suffered  as  much.1  With 
the  appearance  of  spring  the  mortality  ceased,  and 
a  friendly  intercourse  with  the  natives  began. 
These  Indians  were  the  Pokanokets,  whose  number 
had  been  very  much  thinned  by  the  pestilence. 
After  the  first  hostilities  directed  against  the  ex- 
ploring parties  they  avoided  the  whites,  and  held 
a  meeting  in  a  dark  and  dismal  swamp,  where  the 
medicine-men  for  three  days  together  tried  vainly 
to  subject  the  new-comers  to  the  spell  of  their  con- 
jurations. 

At  last,  in  March,  1621,  an  Indian  came  boldly 
into  camp,  and,  in  broken  English,  bade  the  stran- 
gers "  welcome."  It  was  found  that  his  name  was 
Samoset,  and  that  he  came  from  Monhegan,  an 
island  distant  about  a  day's  sail  towards  the  east, 
where  he  had  picked  up  a  few  English  words  from 

1  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  112. 

163 


164  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1621 

the  fishermen  who  frequented  that  region.  In  a 
short  time  he  returned,  bringing  Squanto,  or  Tis- 
quantum,  stolen  by  Hunt  seven  years  before,  and 
restored  to  his  country  in  1620  by  Sir  Ferdi- 
nando  Gorges.  Squanto,  who  could  speak  Eng- 
lish, stated  that  Massasoit  was  near  at  hand,  and 
on  invitation  that  chief  appeared,  and  soon  a  trea- 
ty of  peace  and  friendship  was  concluded;  after 
which  Massasoit  returned  to  his  town  of  Sowams, 
forty  miles  distant,  while  Squanto  continued  with 
the  colonists  and  made  himself  useful  in  many 
ways.1 

In  the  beginning  of  April,  1621,  the  Mayflower 
went  back  to  England,  and  the  colonists  planted 
corn  in  the  fields  once  tilled  by  Indians  whom  the 
pestilence  had  destroyed.  While  engaged  in  this 
work  the  governor,  John  Carver,  died,  and  his  place 
was  supplied  by  William  Bradford,  with  Isaac  Aller- 
ton  as  assistant  or  councilman.  During  the  summer 
the  settlers  were  very  busy.  They  fitted  up  their  cab- 
ins, amassed  a  good  supply  of  beaver,  and  harvested 
a  fair  crop  of  corn.  In  the  fall  a  ship  arrived,  bring- 
ing thirty -five  new  settlers  poorly  provided.  It 
also  brought  a  patent,  dated  June  i,  1621,  from  the 
Council  for  New  England,  made  out  to  John  Pierce, 
by  whom  the  original  patent  from  the  London  Com- 
pany had  been  obtained.  The  patent  did  not  define 
the  territorial  limits,  but  allowed  one  hundred  acres 
for  every  emigrant  and  fifteen  hundred  acres  for 
1  Bradford,  Plimoih  Plantation,  114-117. 


i622]       DEVELOPMENT   OF   PLYMOUTH          165 

public  buildings,  in  the  same  proportion  of  one 
hundred  acres  to  every  workman.1 

The  ship  tarried  only  fourteen  days,  and  returned 
with  a  large  cargo  of  clapboard  and  beaver  skins 
of  the  value  of  £500,  which  was,  however,  captured 
on  the  way  to  England  by  a  French  cruiser.  After 
the  departure  the  governor  distributed  the  new- 
comers among  the  different  families,  and  because 
of  the  necessity  of  sharing  with  them,  put  every- 
body on  half  allowance.  The  prospect  for  the  win- 
ter was  not  hopeful,  for  to  the  danger  from  starva- 
tion was  added  danger  from  the  Indians. 

West  of  the  Pokanokets  were  the  Narragansetts,  a 
tribe  of  two  thousand  warriors,  whose  chief,  Canon- 
icus,  sent  to  Plymouth  in  January,  1622,  a  bundle 
of  arrows  tied  with  a  snake's  skin,  signifying  a  chal- 
lenge of  war.  Bradford  knew  that  it  was  fatal  to 
hesitate  or  show  fear,  and  he  promptly  stuffed  the 
snake's  skin  with  bullets  and  returned  it  to  the 
sender  with  some  threatening  words.  This  answer 
alarmed  Canonicus,  who  thought  that  the  snake's  skin 
must  be  conjured,  and  he  did  not  pursue  the  matter 
further.  But  the  colonists  took  warning,  and  the 
whole  settlement  was  enclosed  with  a  paling,  and  strict 
military  watch  was  maintained.  Thus  the  winter 
passed  and  the  spring  came,  but  without  the  hoped-for 
assistance  from  the  merchant  partners  in  England.2 

1  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  4th  series,  II.,  158-163. 

2  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  130-133 ;  Winslow,  "Relation," 
in  Young,  Chronicles  of  the  Pilgrims,  280-284. 


i66  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1622 

On  the  contrary,  the  arrival  in  May,  1622,  "with- 
out a  bite  of  bread,"  of  sixty-seven  other  persons, 
sent  out  on  his  own  account  under  a  grant  from  the 
Council  for  New  England,  by  Thomas  Weston,  one  of 
the  partners,  plunged  them  into  dire  distress,  from 
which  they  were  happily  saved  by  a  ship-captain, 
John  Huddleston,  from  the  colony  on  James  River, 
who  shared  his  supplies  with  them,  and  thus  en- 
abled them  to  "  make  shift  till  corn  was  ripe  again." 
Weston 's  emigrants  were  a  loose  set,  and  before 
they  left  in  August  they  stole  most  of  the  green  corn, 
and  thus  Plymouth  was  threatened  with  another 
famine.  Fortunately,  about  this  time  another  ship 
from  Virginia,  bearing  the  secretary  of  state,  John 
Pory,  arrived,  and  sold  the  colonists  a  supply  of 
truck  for  trading;  by  which  they  bought  from  the 
Indians  not  only  corn,  but  beaver,  which  proved 
afterwards  a  source  of  much  profit. 

Weston 's  people  removed  to  Wessagusset  (mod- 
ern Weymouth),  on  Massachusetts  Bay,  where  they 
conducted  themselves  in  so  reckless  a  manner  that 
they  ran  the  double  risk  of  starvation  and  destruc- 
tion from  savages.  To  save  them,  Bradford,  in 
March,  1623,  despatched  a  company  under  Captain 
Miles  Standish,  who  brought  them  corn  and  killed 
several  of  the  Indians.  Then  Standish  helped 
Weston 's  "  rude  fellows  "  aboard  ship  and  saw  them 
safely  off  to  sea.  Shortly  after  Weston  came  over 
to  look  after  his  emigrants,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Indians,  escaped  to  Plymouth,  where  the  colonists 


1623]       DEVELOPMENT   OF   PLYMOUTH          167 

helped  him  away,  and  returned  in  October,  1623,  to 
create  more  disturbance. 

Weston  was  not  the  only  one  of  the  partners  that 
gave  the  colonists  trouble.  John  Pierce  took  ad- 
vantage of  the  prominence  given  him  by  the  patent 
issued  in  his  name  for  the  benefit  of  all,  to  get  a  new 
one  which  made  him  sole  actual  owner  of  the  terri- 
tory. His  partners  resented  this  injustice,  and  the 
Council  for  New  England,  in  March,  1623,  was  in- 
duced to  revoke  the  grant  to  Pierce.1 

About  this  time  Bradford  made  a  great  change 
in  the  industrial  system  of  the  colony.  At  Plym- 
outh, as  at  Jamestown,  communism  was  found  to 
breed  "  confusion  and  discontent,"  and  he  tried  the 
experiment  of  assigning  to  every  family,  in  pro- 
portion to  its  size,  a  tract  of  land.  In  July,  1623, 
arrived  sixty  other  settlers,  and  the  old  planters 
feared  another  period  of  starvation.  Nevertheless, 
when  harvest- time  arrived,  the  wisdom  of  Brad- 
ford's appeal  to  private  interest  was  demonstrated, 
for  instead  of  misery  and  scarcity  there  was  joy- 
fulness,  and  "plentie  of  corn."  Later  experience 
was  equally  convincing,  for,  as  Bradford  wrote 
many  years  after, "  any  general  wante  or  famine  hath 
not  been  known  amongst  them  since  to  this  day." 

While  the  Pilgrim  fathers  were  overcoming  their 
difficulties  in  Massachusetts,  the  Council  for  New 
England  were  struggling  with  the  London  Company 

1  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  149-168;  Col.  of  State  Pap., 
Col.,  1574-1660,  p.  40. 


i68  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1620 

to  maintain  the  monopoly  of  fishing  and  fur  trading 
on  the  North  Atlantic  coast  granted  to  them  by 
their  charter.  The  London  Company  complained 
to  the  king  in  1620  and  to  Parliament  in  1621,  but 
the  king  refused  any  relief,  and  prevented  Parlia- 
ment from  interfering  by  dissolving  it.1  There- 
upon, the  Council  for  New  England,  appreciating 
the  danger,  made  a  grand  effort  to  accomplish 
something  in  America.  As  a  preliminary  step  they 
induced  the  king  to  publish  a  proclamation,  Novem- 
ber 6,  1622,  against  all  unlicensed  trading  and  other 
infringements  upon  the  rights  granted  them,2  and 
shortly  afterwards  sent  out  Francis  West  as  ad- 
miral to  reduce  the  fishermen  on  the  coast  to  obe- 
dience. West  came  to  America,  but  found  them 
"stuberne  fellows,"3  and  he  returned  in  about  a 
year  to  England  without  effecting  anything. 

During  his  absence  the  Council  for  New  England 
set  to  work  to  send  out  a  colony  under  Robert 
Gorges,  son  of  Sir  Ferdinando;  and,  June  29,  1623,  a 
division  was  made  among  twenty  patentees,  of  the 
North  Atlantic  coast  from  the  Bay  of  Fundy  to 
Narragansett  Bay.4  In  September,  1623,  Gorges 
arrived  at  Plymouth  attended  by  an  Episcopal  min- 
ister, William  Morell,  and  a  company  of  settlers, 
whom  he  planted  at  Wessagusset.  He  remained  in 

1  Gorges,    Description   of   New   England    (Mass.    Hist.    Soc., 
Collections,  3d  series,  VI.,  80). 

2  Cal.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  p.  33. 
8  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  170. 

4  Maine  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  26.  series,  VII.,  73-76. 


1624]       DEVELOPMENT   OF   PLYMOUTH          169 

New  England  throughout  the  winter,  and  in  the 
effort  to  exert  his  authority  had  a  long  wrangle 
with  Weston.  In  the  spring  of  1624  he  received 
news  from  his  father  that  discouraged  his  further 
stay.  It  seems  that  in  March,  1624,  a  committee 
of  Parliament,  at  the  head  of  which  was  Sir  Edward 
Coke,  had  reported  the  charter  of  the  Council  for 
New  England  as  a  national  grievance,  which  so  dis- 
couraged the  patentees  that  most  of  them  abandoned 
the  enterprise,  and  it  became,  in  the  language  of  the 
elder  Gorges,  "a  carcass  in  a  manner  breathless."  * 
After  Robert  Gorges'  departure  most  of  his  party 
dispersed,  some  going  to  England  and  some  to  Vir- 
ginia, but  a  few  remained  at  Wessagusset,  which 
was  never  entirely  abandoned. 

The  relations  between  the  colony  and  the  London 
merchant  adventurers,  never  very  pleasant,  became 
more  unsatisfactory  as  time  went  on.  The  colonists 
naturally  wanted  to  bring  over  their  friends  at  Ley- 
den,  but  the  partners  regarded  Robinson  as  the  great 
leader  of  the  Independents,  and  London  was  al- 
ready rife  with  rumors  of  the  heretical  character 
of  the  rulers  at  Plymouth.  It  seemed  to  the  part- 
ners evidently  for  their  interest  to  introduce  settlers 
of  a  different  religious  opinion  from  Bradford  and 
Brewster,  and  to  this  was  largely  due  the  fact  that 
the  emigrants  who  came  over  after  the  Mayflower's 
return  in  1621  had  little  in  common  with  the  orig- 
inal band  of  Pilgrims. 

1  Adams,  Three  Episodes  of  Mass.  Hist.,  I.,  152. 


i yo  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1624 

In  January,  1624,  arrived  another  miscellaneous 
cargo,  including  a  minister  named  John  Lyford. 
Upon  his  arrival  he  professed  intense  sympathy  with 
the  settlers,  and  when  they  received  him  as  a  member 
of  their  church  he  renounced,  pursuant  to  the  ex- 
treme tenets  of  Separatism,  "  all  universall,  nationall, 
and  diocessan  churches."1  Nevertheless,  he  joined 
with  John  Oldham,  who  came  the  year  before,  in  a 
conspiracy  to  overturn  the  government;  but  was 
detected  and  finally  banished  from  the  colony.  In 
March,  1625,  Lyford  and  Oldham  went  to  Wessa- 
gusset,  from  which  they  moved  with  Roger  Conant 
and  other  friends  to  Nantasket,  where,  in  the  mean 
time,  a  new  settlement  had  sprung  up. 

In  the  division  of  1623,  the  region  around  Cape 
Ann  fell  to  Lord  Sheffield,  and  the  same  year  he 
conveyed  the  country  to  Robert  Cushman  and 
Edward  Winslow  in  behalf  of  the  colonists  at  Plym- 
outh.2 The  next  year  the  new  owners  sent  a  party 
to  establish  a  fishing  stage  at  Cape  Ann,  but  they 
found  other  persons  on  the  spot,  for  in  1623  some 
merchants  of  Dorchester,  England,  who  regularly  sent 
vessels  to  catch  fish  in  the  waters  of  New  England, 
had  conceived  the  idea  of  planting  a  colony  on  the 
coast,  and  in  the  summer  of  that  year  landed  four- 
teen men  at  Cape  Ann,  soon  increased  to  thirty -four. 

For  some  months  the  two  parties  got  along  ami- 
cably together  and  fished  side  by  side.  An  element 

1  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  238. 

2  Palfrey,  New  England,  I.,  222,  285. 


1626]        DEVELOPMENT   OF   PLYMOUTH          171 

of  discord  was  introduced  in  1625  when  the  Dor- 
chester men  invited  Roger  Conant  and  Rev.  Mr. 
Lyford  from  Nantasket,  and  made  the  former  man- 
ager and  the  latter  minister  of  their  settlement; 
while  John  Oldham  was  asked  to  become  their 
agent  to  trade  with  the  Indians.  A  short  time  after, 
the  crew  of  a  vessel  belonging  to  the  Dorchester 
adventurers,  instigated,  it  is  said,  by  Lyford,  took 
from  the  Plymouth  men  their  fishing  stage ;  where- 
upon Miles  Standish  came  with  soldiers  from  Plym- 
outh, and  the  rival  parties  would  have  come  to 
blows  had  not  Conant  interfered  and  settled  the 
matter.1  The  Plymouth  settlers  built  a  new  stage, 
but,  as  the  war  with  Spain  affected  the  sale  of 
fish,  they  soon  abandoned  the  enterprise  altogether. 
The  Dorchester  men  had  no  better  fortune,  and  the 
discouraged  merchants  at  home,  in  1626,  broke  up 
their  colony  and  sold  their  shipping  and  most  of 
their  other  property.2  Lyford  went  to  Virginia, 
where  he  soon  died,  and  all  the  other  settlers,  ex- 
cept Conant  and  three  others,  returned  to  Eng- 
land. 

The  colony  at  Plymouth,  in  the  mean  time,  was 
signally  prospering,  and  soon  felt  strong  enough 
to  dissolve  the  troublesome  relations  with  the  mer- 
chant partners,  who  had  fallen  into  dissensions 


1  Hubbard,  New  England   (Mass.   Hist.    Soc.,  Collections,  26. 
series,  VI.,  no). 

2  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,   237;  Planters'   Plea    (Force, 
Tracts,  II.,  No.  iii.). 


172  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1627 

among  themselves.  For  this  purpose  the  colonists 
made,  in  1627,  an  agreement  by  which  for  £1800, 
to  be  paid  in  nine  annual  instalments  of  £200  each, 
the  colonists  were  relieved  from  all  vassalage  under 
their  original  contract.1 

Custodians  of  their  own  fortunes,  they  now  es- 
tablished trading-posts  at  several  places  on  the 
coast  —  at  Manomet,  on  Buzzard's  Bay  (1627),  at 
Kennebec  (1628),  and  at  Penobscot  and  Machias 
Bay  (1629).  In  addition  they  made  arrangements 
for  reunion  with  their  friends  in  Holland,  one  party 
of  whom  arrived  in  1629  and  another  in  1630, 
though  Robinson,  the  Moses  of  the  Pilgrims,  was 
never  permitted  to  join  them,  having  died  March  i, 
i626,2  in  Leyden. 

They  tried  also  to  obtain  a  charter  from  the  king, 
but  they  never  could  get  anything  better  than  a 
fresh  patent  from  the  Council  for  New  England. 
This  patent,3  dated  January  13,  1630,  empowered 
Bradford  and  his  associates  ' '  to  incorporate  by 
some  usual  and  fit  name  and  title  him  and  them- 
selves, or  the  people  there  inhabiting  under  him  or 
them,  with  liberty  to  them  and  their  successors 
from  time  to  time  to  frame  and  make  orders,  ordi- 
nances, and  constitutions  "  not  contrary  to  the  laws 
of  England  or  to  any  government  established  by 
the  council. 

The  patent  had  the  merit  of  defining  the  extent  of 

1  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  237-258. 

2  Ibid.,  248.  3  Hazard,  State  Papers,  I.,  298. 


1630]       DEVELOPMENT   OF   PLYMOUTH          173 

territory  belonging  to  the  Plymouth  settlers,  and 
granted  "all  that  part  of  New  England  in  America 
aforesaid  and  Tracte  and  Tractes  of  Land  that  lye 
within  or  betweene  a  certaine  Reuolett  or  Runlett 
there  commonly  called  Coahassett  alias  Conahassett 
towards  the  North  and  the  Riuer  commonly  called 
Narragansett  Riuer  towards  the  South  and  the 
great  Westerne  Ocean  towards  the  East,  and  be- 
tweene, and  within  a  Streight  Line  directly  Extend- 
ing up  Jnto  the  Maine  Land  towards  the  west  from 
the  mouth  of  the  said  Riuer  called  Narragansett 
Riuer  to  the  utmost  bounds  of  a  Country  or  place 
in  New  England  Commonly  called  Pokenacutt  als 
Sowamsett,  westward,  and  another  like  Streight  line 
Extending  it  Self  Directly  from  the  mouth  of  the 
said  Riuer  called  Coahassett  als  Conahassett  towards 
the  West  so  fair  up  into  the  Main  Land  Westwards 
as  the  Vtmost  Limitts  of  the  said  place  or  Country 
Commonly  called  Pokenacutt  als  Sowamsett  Do 
Extend  togeather  with  one  half  of  the  sd  Riuer 
called  Narragansett  and  the  sd  Reuolett  or  Runlett 
called  Coahassett  als  Conahassett  and  all  Lands 
Riuers  waters  hauens  Ports  Creeks  ffihings  fowl- 
ings  and  all  hereditaments  Proffitts  Commodityes 
and  Jmoluments  Whatsoeuer  Scituate  Lyeing  and 
being  or  ariseing  within  or  betweene  the  said 
Limitts  or  bounds  or  any  of  them."  For  trading 
purposes  the  patent  also  gave  them  a  tract  extend- 
ing fifteen  miles  in  breadth  on  each  bank  of  the 
Kennebec. 

VOL.    IV. — 13 


174  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1625 

Among  the  "scattered  beginnings"  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Plymouth,  the  most  interesting,  because 
the  most  contrasted  with  the  Puritan  colony  at 
Plymouth,  was  Captain  Wollaston's  settlement, 
established  in  1625  a  little  north  of  Wessagusset. 
His  men  were,  for  the  most  part,  servants,  and 
Wollaston  rinding,  soon  after  his  arrival,  that  they 
could  be  used  to  better  advantage  in  Virginia,  trans- 
ported some  of  them  to  that  colony. 

During  his  absence  one  Thomas  Morton,  a  lawyer 
of  Clifford's  Inn,  asserted  his  authority,  freed  the 
rest  of  the  settlers,  and  engaged  in  a  successful 
traffic  with  the  Indians  for  beaver  and  other  skins. 
This  circumstance  was  itself  calculated  to  excite  the 
jealousy  of  the  Plymouth  settlers,  but  the  ceremonies 
and  customs  at  "  Merry  Mount,"  which  name  Morton 
gave  to  the  settlement  in  lieu  of  "Mount  Wollas- 
ton," caused  them  to  regard  him  with  even  greater 
disgust.  He  instituted  the  Episcopal  service  and 
planted  a  May-pole  eighty  feet  high,  around  which, 
for  many  days  together,  the  settlers  "frisked" 
hand-in-hand  with  the  Indian  girls. 

As  Morton  was  outside  of  the  Plymouth  jurisdic- 
tion, the  colonists  there  had  no  right  to  interfere 
except  in  self-defence.  But  the  Plymouth  people 
asserted  that  Morton  sold  arms  to  the  Indians  and 
received  runaway  servants.  This  made  him  dan- 
gerous, and  all  the  other  "straggling  settlements," 
though,  like  Morton's,  of  the  church  of  England, 
united  with  the  people  at  Plymouth  in  suppressing 


1627]       DEVELOPMENT   OF   PLYMOUTH          175 

Morton's  settlement.  In  June,  1628,  a  joint  force 
under  Captain  Miles  Standish  was  sent  against 
Merry  Mount,  and  Morton  was  captured  and  shipped 
to  England  in  charge  of  John  Oldham,  who  had  made 
his  peace  with  Plymouth,  and  now  took  with  him 
letters  to  the  Council  for  New  England  and  *to  Sir 
Ferdinando  Gorges,  in  which  Morton's  offences  were 
duly  set  forth.1 

The  settlements  besides  Plymouth  which  took 
part  in  the  expedition  were  Piscataqua  (Ports- 
mouth) ;  Nantasket  (now  Hull) ,  then  the  seat  of 
John  Oldham ;  Naumkeag  (now  Salem) ;  Winnisim- 
met  (now  Chelsea),  where  Mr.  Jeffrey  and  Mr. 
Burslem  lived;  Cocheco,  on  the  Piscataqua,  where 
Edward  Hilton  lived;  Thompson's  Island,  where 
the  widow  of  David  Thompson  lived;  and  Shaw- 
mut  (now  Boston),  where  Rev.  William  Blackstone 
lived.  Besides  the  settlements,  there  were  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Plymouth  plantations  of  some 
solitary  settlers  whose  names  do  not  appear  in  this 
transaction.  Thomas  Walford  lived  at  Mishawum 
(now  Charlestown),  and  Samuel  Maverick  on  Nod- 
dle's Island;  Wessagusset  also  had  probably  a  few 
inhabitants. 

In  1627  De  Rasieres,  the  secretary  of  state  of  the 
Dutch  colony  at  New  Netherland,  opened  a  corre- 
spondence with  Governor  Bradford  and  assured  him 
of  his  desire  to  cultivate  friendly  relations.  Brad- 

1  Bradford,  Letter-Book  (Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  ist  series, 
III.,  63);  Plimoth  Plantation,  284-292. 


176  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1628 

ford  gave  a  kind  reply,  but  questioned  the  right  of 
the  Dutch  on  the  coast,  and  invited  Rasieres  to  a 
conference.  He  accepted  the  invitation,  and  in 
1628  visited  the  Puritan  settlement.  A  profitable 
exchange  of  merchandise  succeeded,  and  the  Dutch 
taught  the  Plymouth  men  the  value  of  wampum 
in  trading  for  furs,  and  sold  them  £50  worth  of 
it.  It  was  found  useful  both  as  a  currency  and 
commodity,  and  afterwards  the  settlers  learned  to 
make  it  from  the  shells  on  the  sea-shore.1  It  was 
not  till  five  years  later  that  this  peaceful  corre- 
spondence with  the  Dutch  was  disturbed. 

Unfriendliness  characterized,  from  the  first,  the 
relations  with  the  French.  They  claimed  that  Aca- 
dia  extended  as  far  south  as  Pemaquid,  and  one 
day  in  1631,  when  the  manager  of  the  Penobscot 
factory  was  away,  a  French  privateer  appeared  in 
port  and  landed  its  crew.  In  the  story,  as  told  by 
Bradford,  the  levity  of  the  French  and  the  solemn 
seriousness  of  the  Puritans  afford  a  delightful  con- 
trast. The  Frenchmen  were  profuse  in  "  compli- 
ments" and  "  congees,"  but  taking  the  English  at 
a  disadvantage  forced  them  to  an  unconditional 
surrender.  They  stripped  the  factory  of  its  goods, 
and  as  they  sailed  away  bade  their  victims  tell  the 
manager  when  he  came  back  "that  the  Isle  of  Rhe 
gentlemen  had  been  there."  2  In  1633,  after  Ra- 

1  Bradford,    Letter -Book    (Mass.   Hist.    Soc.,   Collections,    ist 
series,  III.,  53). 

2  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  350. 


1641]       DEVELOPMENT   OF   PLYMOUTH          177 

zilly's  appointment  as  governor-general,  De  la  Tour, 
one  of  his  lieutenants,  attacked  and  drove  away 
the  Plymouth  men  at  Machias  Bay,1  and  in  1635 
D'Aulnay,  another  lieutenant,  dispossessed  the  Eng- 
lish at  Penobscot. 

The  Plymouth  people,  greatly  incensed,  sent  two 
armed  ships  to  punish  the  French,  but  the  expedi- 
tion proved  a  failure.  Then  they  appealed  to  Massa- 
chusetts for  help,  but  the  great  men  of  that  colony, 
hoping,  as  Bradford  intimates,  to  arrange  a  trade 
with  the  French  on  their  own  account,  declined 
to  be  at  any  expense  in  the  matter,2  and  so  the 
Penobscot  remained  in  unfriendly  hands  for  many 
years. 

This  appeal  to  Massachusetts  showed  that  another 
power  had  stepped  to  the  front  in  New  England. 
After  John  Winthrop  set  up  his  government  in  1630 
on  Massachusetts  Bay  the  history  of  the  Plym- 
outh colony  ceased  to  be  of  first  importance,  and 
therefore  the  remaining  events  in  her  annals  need 
not  take  much  space.  In  1633  the  people  of  Plym- 
outh established  a  fort  on  Connecticut  River  above 
the  Dutch  post,  so  as  to  intercept  the  Indian  trade, 
and  in  1639  they  renewed  the  ancient  league  with 
Massasoit.3  In  1640  they  had  a  dispute  with 
Massachusetts  over  the  boundary -line,  which  was 
arranged  by  a  compromise,  and  in  1641  William 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  139. 

2  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  395-401. 

3  Plymouth  Col.  Records,  I.,  133. 


1 78  ENGLAND   IN  AMERICA  [1620 

Bradford  deeded  to  the  freemen  of  the  corporation 
of  New  Plymouth  the  patent  of  1630,  granted  by 
the  Council  for  New  England  to  him  as  trustee 
for  the  colony.1  Finally,  in  1643,  Plymouth  be- 
came a  member  of  the  New  England  confedera- 
tion. 

A  survey  of  these  twenty-three  years  (1620-1643) 
shows  that  during  the  first  eleven  years  the  increase 
in  population  was  very  slow.  In  1624  there  were 
one  hundred  and  eighty  settlers  and  in  1630  but 
three  hundred.  The  emigration  to  Massachusetts, 
beginning  in  1629,  brought  about  a  great  change. 
It  overflowed  into  Plymouth,  and  in  twelve  years 
more  the  population  had  increased  to  three  thou- 
sand.2 The  new  settlers  were  a  miscellaneous  set, 
composed  for  the  most  part  of  "unruly  servants" 
and  dissipated  young  men,  whose  ill  conduct  caused 
the  old  rulers  like  Bradford  to  question  "whether 
after  twenty  years'  time  the  greater  part  be  not 
grown  worser." 3  Nevertheless,  the  people  in- 
creased their  "outward  estate,"  and  as  they  scat- 
tered in  search  of  fertile  land,  Plymouth,  "in  which 
they  lived  compactly  till  now,  was  left  very  thin 
and  in  a  short  time  almost  desolate."  In  1632  a 
separate  church  and  town  of  the  name  of  Duxbury 
was  formed  north  of  Plymouth;  and  eleven  years 
later  the  towns  of  the  Plymouth  colony  were  ten  in 

1  Bradford,  Plitnoth  Plantation,  437-444. 

2  Palfrey,  New  England,  I.,  223,  II.,  6;  Hazard,  State  Papers, 
I.,  300.  3  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  459. 


1643]       DEVELOPMENT   OF   PLYMOUTH          179 

number:  Plymouth,  Duxbury,  Scituate,  Taunton, 
Sandwich,  Yarmouth,  Barn  stable,  Marshfield,  See- 
conck,  or  Rehoboth,  and  Nausett.1 

At  the  first  arrival  the  executive  and  judicial 
powers  were  exercised  by  John  Carver,  without  any 
authorized  adviser.  After  his  death,  in  1621,  the 
same  powers  were  vested  in  William  Bradford  as 
governor  and  Isaac  Allerton  as  assistant.2  In  1624 
the  number  of  assistants  was  increased  to  five  and 
in  1633  to  seven,  and  the  governor  was  given  a 
double  voice.3  The  elective  and  legislative  powers 
were  vested  in  a  primary  assembly  of  all  the  free- 
men, called  the  "General  Court,"  held  at  short  in- 
tervals. One  of  these  meetings  was  called  the  court 
of  elections,  and  at  this  were  chosen  the  governor 
and  other  officers  of  the  colony  for  the  ensuing 
year. 

As  the  number  of  settlements  increased,  it  be- 
came inconvenient  for  freemen  to  attend  the  general 
courts  in  person,  and  in  1638  the  representative 
system  was  definitely  introduced.  Plymouth  was 
allowed  four  delegates,  and  each  of  the  other  towns 
two,  and  they,  with  the  governor  and  his  council  of 
assistants,  constituted  the  law-making  body  of  the 
colony.  To  be  entitled  to  hold  office  or  vote  at  the 
court  of  elections,  the  person  had  to  be  "a  free- 
man"; and  to  acquire  this  character,  he  had  to  be 
specially  chosen  one  of  the  company  at  one  of  the 

1  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  444.  2  Ibid.,  122. 

8  Ibid.,  187. 


i8o  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1620 

general  courts.  Thus  suffrage  was  regarded  as  a 
privilege  and  not  a  right.1 

Although  the  first  of  the  colonies  to  establish  a 
Separatist  church,  the  Puritans  of  Plymouth  did 
not  make  church-membership  a  condition  of  citizen- 
ship ;  still,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  restriction 
practically  prevailed  at  Plymouth,  since  up  to  1643 
only  about  two  hundred  and  thirty  persons  acquired 
the  suffrage.  In  the  general  laws  of  Plymouth,  pub- 
lished in  1671,  it  was  provided  as  a  condition  of  re- 
ceiving the  franchise  that  "the  candidate  should 
be  of  sober  and  peaceable  conversation,  orthodox  in 
the  fundamentals  of  religion,"  which  was  probably 
only  a  recognition  of  the  custom  of  earlier  times.2 
The  earliest  New  England  code  of  statutes  was  that 
of  Plymouth,  adopted  in  1636.  It  was  digested 
under  fifty  titles  and  recognized  seven  capital  of- 
fences, witchcraft  being  one.3 

In  the  Plymouth  colony,  as  in  other  colonies  of 
New  England,  the  unit  of  government  was  the  town, 
and  this  town  system  was  borrowed  from  Massachu- 
setts, where,  as  we  shall  see,  the  inhabitants  of  Dor- 
chester set  the  example,  in  1633,  of  coming  together 
for  governmental  purposes.  Entitled  to  take  part 
in  the  town-meetings  under  the  Plymouth  laws  were 
all  freemen  and  persons  ' '  admitted  inhabitants ' '  of 
a  town.  They  elected  the  deputies  of  the  general 

1  Palfrey,  New  England,  II.,  8. 

2  Ibid.     In  August,  1643,  the  number  of  males  of  military  age 
was  627. 

3  Brigham,  Plymouth  Charter  and  Laws,  43,  244. 


1643]       DEVELOPMENT   OF   PLYMOUTH          181 

court  and  the  numerous  officers  of  the  town,  and 
had  the  authority  to  pass  local  ordinances  of  nearly 
every  description.1 

During  the  early  days,  except  for  the  short  time 
of  Lyford's  service,  Elder  William  Brewster  was  the 
spiritual  guide  for  the  people.  For  a  long  time  they 
kept  the  place  of  minister  waiting  for  Robinson,  but 
when  he  died  they  secured,  in  1628,  the  services  of 
Mr.  Rogers,  who  proved  to  "be  crazed  in  his  brain  " 
and  had  to  be  sent  back  the  following  year.  Then, 
in  1629,  Mr.  Ralph  Smith  was  minister,  and  Roger 
Williams  assisted  him.  Smith  was  a  man  of  small 
abilities,  and  after  enduring  him  for  eight  years  they 
persuaded  him  to  resign.  After  Smith's  resignation 
the  office  of  minister  at  Plymouth  was  filled  by 
Rev.  John  Rayner.2 

The  educational  advantages  of  the  Plymouth 
colony  were  meagre,  and  the  little  learning  that 
existed  was  picked  up  in  the  old  English  way  by 
home  instruction.  This  deficiency  was  due  to  the 
stern  conditions  of  a  farmer's  life  on  Cape  Cod 
Bay,  where  the  soil  was  poor  and  the  climate  se- 
vere, necessitating  the  constant  labor  of  the  whole 
family. 

Nevertheless,  the  Plymouth  colony  was  always  an 
example  to  its  neighbors  for  thrift,  economy,  and  in- 
tegrity, and  it  influenced  to  industry  by  proving 

1  Palfrey,  New  England,  II.,  7;  Howard,  Local  Constitutional 
History,  50-99. 

3  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  314,  418,  419. 


i82  ENGLAND   IN  AMERICA  [1643 

what  might  be  done  on  a  barren  soil.  Its  chief  claim 
to  historical  importance  rests,  of  course,  on  the  fact 
that,  as  the  first  successful  colony  on  the  New  Eng- 
land coast,  it  was  the  cause  and  beginning  of  the 
establishment  of  the  other  colonies  of  New  England, 
and  the  second  step  in  founding  the  great  republic 
of  the  United  States. 


CHAPTER  XI 

GENESIS   OF   MASSACHUSETTS 
(1628-1630) 

THE  abandonment,  in  1626,  of  their  colony  at 
Cape  Ann  by  the  Dorchester  adventurers,  did 
not  cause  connection  to  be  entirely  severed  either 
in  America  or  in  England.  In  America,  Conant 
and  three  of  the  more  industrious  settlers  remained, 
but  as  the  fishery  was  abandoned,  they  withdrew 
with  the  cattle  from  the  exposed  promontory  at 
Cape  Ann  to  Naumkeag,  afterwards  Salem.1  In 
England  a  few  of  the  adventurers,  loath  to  give  up 
entirely,  sent  over  more  cattle,  and  the  enterprise, 
suddenly  attracting  other  support,  rose  to  a  greater 
promise  than  had  ever  been  anticipated.2 

Among  those  in  England  who  did  not  lose  hope 
was  the  Rev.  John  White,  of  Dorchester,  a  merchant 
as  well  as  a  preacher,  and  his  large  figure  stands  on 
the  threshold  of  the  great  commonwealth  of  Massa- 
chusetts. Thomas  Fuller  says  that  he  had  absolute 
command  of  two  things  not  easily  controlled — "his 

1  Hubbard,  New  England  (Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  2d 
series,  V.),  107,  108. 

1  Planters1  Plea  (Force,  Tracts,  II.,  No.  iii.). 

183 


1 84  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1628 

own  passions  and  the  purses  of  his  parishioners." 
White  wrote  Conant  and  his  associates  to  stick  by 
the  work,  and  promised  to  obtain  for  them  a  patent 
and  fully  provide  them  with  means  to  carry  on  the 
fur  trade.  The  matter  was  discussed  in  Lincoln- 
shire and  London,  arid  soon  a  powerful  association 
came  into  being  and  lent  its  help. 

Other  men,  some  of  whom  are  historic  personages, 
began  to  take  a  leading  part,  and  there  was  at  first 
no  common  religious  purpose  among  the  new  asso- 
ciates. The  contemporary  literature  is  curiously 
free  from  any  special  appeal  to  Puritanic  principles, 
and  the  arguments  put  forward  are  much  the  same 
as  those  urged  for  the  settlement  of  Virginia.  The 
work  of  planting  a  new  colony  was  taken  up  en- 
thusiastically, and  a  patent,  dated  March  19,  1628, 
was  obtained  from  the  Council  for  New  England, 
conceding  to  six  grantees,  Sir  Henry  Rose  well,  Sir 
John  Young,  Thomas  Southcot,  John  Humphrey, 
John  Endicott,  and  Simon  Whitcombe,  ''all  that 
Parte  of  New  England  in  America  aforesaid,  which 
lyes  and  extendes  betweene  a  greate  River  there 
comonlie  called  Monomack  alias  Merriemack,  and  a 
certen  other  River  there,  called  Charles  River,  be- 
ing in  the  Bottome  of  a  certayne  Bay  there,  comonlie 
called  Massachusetts  alias  Mattachusetts,  .  .  .  and 
.  .  .  lyeing  within  the  Space  of  three  English  Myles 
on  the  South  Parte  of  the  said  Charles  River,  .  .  . 
and  also  .  .  .  within  the  space  of  three  English  Myles 
to  the  Northward  of  the  said  River  called  Monomack, 


1629]         GENESIS   OF   MASSACHUSETTS  185 

.  .  .  throughout  the  Mayne  Landes  there,  from  the 
Atlantick  and  Westerne  Sea  and  Ocean  on  the  East 
Parte,  to  the  South  Sea  on  the  West  Parte." 

The  patent  also  gave  to  the  company  "all  Juris- 
diccons,  Rights,  Royalties,  Liberties,  Freedoms, 
Ymmunities,  Priviledges,  Franchises,  Prehemin- 
ences,  and  Commodities,  whatsoever,  which  they,  the 
said  Council  established  at  Plymouth,  .  .  .  then  had, 
.  .  .  within  the  saide  Landes  and  Premisses."  *  On 
account  of  the  reckless  manner  in  which  the  Council 
for  New  England  granted  away  its  territory,  the 
patent  conflicted  with  several  others  of  an  earlier 
date.  In  March,  1622,  they  had  granted  to  John 
Mason  a  patent  for  all  the  land  between  Naumkeag 
and  the  Merrimac  River.  Then,  in  December, 
1622,  a  part  of  this  territory  having  a  front  of 
ten  miles  "upon  the  northeast  side  of  Boston  Bay," 
and  extending  thirty  miles  into  the  interior,  was 
granted  to  Captain  Robert  Gorges.2  Next,  at  the 
division  in  June,  1623,  the  part  of  New  England 
about  Boston  Bay  fell  to  Lord  Sheffield,  the  earl 
of  Warwick,  and  Lord  Edward  Gorges,  a  cousin  of 
Sir  Ferdinando.  The  rights  under  the  first  and  last 
of  these  grants  were  surrendered  in  i629,3  but, 
according  to  Ferdinando  Gorges,  he,  as  one  of  the 

1  The  patent  is  not   preserved,  but  there  is  a  recital  of  its 
main   feature  in   the   Massachusetts  charter.     Poore,   Charters 
and  Constitutions,  I.,  932. 

2  Cat.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  157  4- 1660,  pp.  25,35;  Gorges,  Descrip- 
tion of  New  England  (Mass.   Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  3d  series, 
VI.,  75).         -        3  Cat.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1661-1668,  p.  347. 


1 86  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1628 

council,  only  sanctioned  the  patent  to  Rosewell  and 
his  partners  on  the  understanding  that  the  grant 
to  his  son  should  not  be  interfered  with;  and  the 
maintenance  of  this  claim  was  the  occasion  of 
dispute  for  some  years.1 

June  20,  1628,  the  new  company  sent  out  a  party 
of  emigrants  under  John  Endicott,  who  arrived, 
September  6,  at  Naumkeag,  where,  with  the  num- 
ber already  on  Boston  Bay  at  their  coming,  they 
made  about  fifty  or  sixty  persons.  He  found  the 
remains  of  Conant's  company  disposed  to  question 
the  claims  of  the  new-comers,  but  the  dispute  was 
amicably  arranged,  and  in  commemoration  Naum- 
keag was  given  the  name  of  Salem,  the  Hebrew 
word  for ''Peaceful."2 

For  nearly  a  year  little  is  known  of  the  settlers 
except  that  in  the  winter  some  died  of  the  scurvy 
and  others  of  an  "infectious  fever."3  Endicott 
wrote  to  Plymouth  for  medical  assistance,  and 
Bradford  sent  Dr.  Samuel  Fuller,  whose  services  were 
thankfully  acknowledged.  One  transaction  which 
has  come  down  to  us  shows  that  Endicott's  govern- 
ment early  marked  out  the  lines  on  which  the  Massa- 
chusetts colony  travelled  for  many  years  after- 
wards. Endicott  made  it  evident  that  he  would 
make  no  compromise  with  any  of  the  "ungodly" 
in  Massachusetts.  Morton's  settlement  fell  within 

1  Gorges,  Description  of  New  England,  So. 
2Hubbard,  New  England   (Mass.  Hist.   Soc.,  Collections,   26. 
series,  V.,  109).  s  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  314. 


1629]         GENESIS   OF   MASSACHUSETTS  187 

Endicott's  jurisdiction,  and  he  resolved  to  finish 
the  work  which  the  Plymouth  people  began.  So, 
about  three  months  after  the  first  visit,  Endicott, 
with  a  small  party,  crossed  the  bay,  hewed  down  the 
abominable  May-pole,  and,  solemnly  dubbing  the 
place  Mount  Dago,  in  memory  of  the  Philistine  idol 
which  fell  down  before  the  ark  of  the  Lord,  "ad- 
monished Morton's  men  to  look  ther  should  be  bet- 
ter walking/' 

In  the  mean  time,  important  events  were  hap- 
pening in  England.  John  Oldham,  having  Thomas 
Morton  in  custody,  landed  at  Plymouth,  England, 
not  long  after  Endicott  left  for  America.  Morton 
posed  as  a  martyr  to  religious  persecution,  and 
Oldham,  who  remembered  his  own  troubles  with 
the  Plymouth  settlers,  soon  fraternized  with  him. 
They  acted  in  connection  with  Ferdinando  Gorges 
and  his  son  John  Gorges,  who,  instead  of  punishing 
Morton  for  illicit  trading,  made  use  of  him  and  Old- 
ham  to  dispute  the  title  of  the  grant  to  Endicott 
and  his  associates.  Robert  Gorges  was  then  dead, 
and  his  brother  John  was  heir  to  his  patent  for  the 
northeast  side  of  Massachusetts  Bay. 

Accordingly,  John  Gorges,  in  January,  1629,  ex- 
ecuted two  deeds — one  to  John  Oldham  and  the 
other  to  Sir  William  Brereton — for  two  tracts  of  land 
out  of  the  original  grant  to  Robert  Gorges.  Old- 
ham  planted  himself  on  his  new  rights,  and  tried  to 
make  his  patent  the  means  to  obtain  from  the 
Massachusetts  Company  in  England  the  exclusive 


i88  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1629 

management  of  the  colony's  fur  trade,  or  the  recog- 
nition of  his  rights  as  an  independent  trader.  But 
the  company  had  already  set  aside  the  profits  of  the 
fur  trade  as  a  fund  for  the  defence  of  the  colony  and 
the  support  of  the  public  worship,  and  they  would 
make  no  concession.1  Instead,  they  took  the  best 
means  to  strengthen  their  title  and  suppress  such 
disturbers  as  Oldham. 

A  royal  charter  was  solicited,  and  March  4,  1629, 
one  of  liberal  powers  passed  the  seals,  chiefly 
through  the  influence  of  the  earl  of  Warwick.2  It 
created  a  corporation  by  the  name  of  the  "  Governor 
and  Company  of  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  Eng- 
land," and  confirmed  to  them  all  the  territory  given 
by  the  patent  from  the  Council  for  New  England. 
The  administration  of  its  affairs  was  intrusted  to  a 
governor,  deputy,  and  eighteen  assistants,  who  were 
annually,  on  the  last  Wednesday  of  Easter  term,  to 
be  elected  by  the  freemen  or  members  of  the  corpora- 
tion, and  to  meet  once  a  month  or  oftener  "for  de- 
spatching such  business  as  concerned  the  company 
or  plantation."  Four  times  a  year  the  governor, 
assistants,  and  all  the  freemen  were  to  be  summoned 
to  "a  greate  generall,  and  solemne  assemblie,"  and 
these  " greate  and  generall  courts"  were  invested 
with  full  power  to  choose  and  admit  into  the  com- 
pany so  many  as  they  should  think  fit,  to  elect  and 

1  Young,    Chronicles    of    Massachusetts,    148;    Adams,    Three 
Episodes  of  Mass.  Hist.,  I.,  216. 

2  See  charter  in  Poore,  Charters  and  Constitutions,  I.,  932. 


1629]         GENESIS   OF   MASSACHUSETTS  189 

constitute  all  requisite  subordinate  officers,  and  to 
make  laws  and  ordinances  for  the  welfare  of  the 
company  and  for  the  government  of  the  plantation. 

The  company  was  given  the  power  to  transport 
to  its  American  territory  all  persons  who  should 
go  willingly,  but  the  corporate  body  alone  was  to 
decide  what  liberties,  if  any,  the  emigrants  should 
enjoy.  In  fact,  the  only  restrictions  in  the  charter 
upon  the  company  and  its  court  of  assistants  were 
that  they  should  license  no  man  "to  rob  or  spoil," 
hinder  no  one  from  fishing  upon  the  coast  of  New 
England,  and  pass  "no  law  contrary  or  repugnant 
to  the  lawes  and  statutes  of  England."  Matthew 
Cradock  was  named  in  the  charter  the  governor  of 
the  company. 

One  of  the  first  steps  taken  by  the  company  under 
the  new  charter  was  to  organize  a  temporary  local 
government  for  the  colonists  in  Massachusetts. 
This  was  to  consist  of  a  governor,  a  deputy  governor, 
and  thirteen  councillors,  of  whom  seven  were  to  be 
named  by  the  company,  three  were  to  be  chosen  by 
these  seven  and  the  governor,  and  three  more  were 
to  be  appointed  by  the  "old  planters"  found  in 
Massachusetts  at  the  arrival  of  Endicott.  Land 
was  allotted  on  a  plan  like  that  adopted  by  the 
London  Company:  each  shareholder  was  to  have 
two  hundred  acres  for  every  £50  that  he  invested, 
and  if  he  settled  in  that  country,  fifty  more  for  him- 
self and  fifty  more  for  each  member  of  his  family.1 

1  Young,  Chronicles  of  Massachusetts,  192—200. 

VOL.    IV. 14 


ipo  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1629 

A  letter  of  instructions  was  draughted,  April  17, 
to  Governor  Endicott,  in  which  mention  was  made 
of  the  negotiations  with  Oldham,  and  orders  given  to 
effect  an  occupation  of  the  territory  covered  by  his 
grant  from  John  Gorges.  This  letter  was  sent  off 
by  a  special  ship  which  reached  Salem  June  20, 
1629,  and  Endicott  promptly  despatched  three 
brothers  of  the  name  of  Sprague,  and  a  few  others, 
who  planted  themselves  at  Mishawum,  within  the 
disputed  territory,  where  they  found  but  "  one  Eng- 
lish palisadoed  and  thatched  house  wherein  lived 
Thomas  Walford,  a  smith."  Other  emigrants  fol- 
lowed, and  there,  in  July,  was  laid  out  by  Endicott 
a  town  which  was  named  Charlestown.  This  prac- 
tically ended  the  difficulty  with  Oldham,  who  was 
kept  in  the  dark  till  the  ship  sailed  from  England, 
and  was  then  told  by  the  company  that  they  were 
determined,  on  advice  of  counsel,  to  treat  his  grant 
as  void.  As  for  Brereton,  he  was  made  a  member 
of  the  company  and  did  not  give  any  real  trouble.1 

May  n,  1629,  sailed  from  London  five  ships  car- 
rying about  four  hundred  settlers,  most  of  whom 
were  servants,  and  one  hundred  and  forty  head  of 
cattle  and  forty  goats.  They  arrived  at  Salem, 
June  27,  and  about  four  weeks  later  the  ecclesi- 
astical organization  of  the  colony  was  effected  by 
John  Endicott,  who  had  already  written  to  Bradford 
that  the  worship  at  Plymouth  was  "  no  other  than  is 

1  Hutchinson,  Massachusetts  Bay,I.,  1 7 ;  Adams,  Three  Episodes 
of  Mass.  Hist.,  I.,  216-220. 


1629]        GENESIS   OF  MASSACHUSETTS  191 

warranted  by  the  evidence  of  the  truth."  He  set 
apart  July  20  for  the  work,  and,  after  a  portion  of 
the  morning  spent  in  prayer,  Samuel  Skelton  and 
Francis  Higginson,  two  of  the  four  ministers  who 
accompanied  the  last  arrivals,  avowed  their  belief 
in  the  doctrines  of  the  Independents,  and  were 
elected  respectively  pastor  and  teacher.  A  confes- 
sion of  faith  and  a  church  covenant  were  drawn  up, 
and  August  6  thirty  persons  associated  themselves 
in  a  church.1 

Two  of  the  gentlemen  emigrants,  John  and  Samuel 
Browne,  presumed  to  hold  a  separate  service  with  a 
small  company,  using  the  Prayer  Book.  Thereupon 
the  hot-headed  Endicott  arrested  them,  put  them 
on  shipboard,  and  sent  them  back  to  England. 
This  conduct  of  Endicott 's  was  a  flagrant  aggression 
on  vested  rights,  since  the  Brownes  appear  in  the 
charter  as  original  promoters  of  the  colony,  and  were 
sent  to  Massachusetts  by  the  company  in  the  high 
capacity  of  assistants  or  councillors  to  Endicott  him- 
self. The  two  brothers  complained  in  England,  and 
in  October,  1629,  the  company  sent  Endicott  a  warn- 
ing against  "  undigested  counsels  .  .  .  which  may 
have  any  ill  construction  with  the  state  here  and 
make  us  obnoxious  to  an  adversary."  2 

In  another  particular  Endicott  showed  the  sum- 
mary character  which  distinguished  him.  When 
Morton  arrived  in  London  a  prisoner,  in  1628,  Isaac 

1  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  315,  316. 

?  Young,  Chronicles  of  Massachusetts,  89,  290, 


ig2  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1629 

Allerton  was  trying  to  secure  from  the  Council  for 
New  England  a  new  patent  for  Plymouth  colony. 
In  Morton  he  appears  to  have  recognized  a  conven- 
ient medium  for  reaching  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges; 
at  any  rate,  when  Allerton  returned  to  New  England 
in  the  summer  of  1629,  he  brought  Thomas  Morton 
back  with  him,  to  the  scandal  of  the  Plymouth 
community. l  After  a  few  weeks  at  Plymouth ,  Morton 
repaired  to  Merry  Mount  and  resumed  the  business 
of  a  fur-trader,  but,  as  might  have  been  expected, 
he  was  soon  brought  into  conflict  with  his  neighbors. 
Endicott,  it  appears,  not  long  after  Morton's  re- 
turn, in  pursuance  of  instructions  from  England, 
summoned  all  the  settlers  in  Massachusetts  to  a 
general  court  at  Salem.  At  this  meeting,  according 
to  Morton,  Endicott  tendered  to  all  present  for  sig- 
nature articles  binding  them  "to  follow  the  rule  of 
God's  word  in  all  causes  as  well  ecclesiasticall  as 
political!. "  The  alternative  was  banishment,  but 
Morton  says  that  he  declined  to  subscribe  without 
the  words  in  the  Massachusetts  charter,  "  so  as  noth- 
ing be  done  contrary  or  repugnant  to  the  Lawes 
of  the  Kingdome  of  England."  Endicott  took  fire 
at  the  independent  claims  of  Morton  and  sent  a 
party  to  arrest  him.  They  found  Morton  gone, 
whereupon  they  broke  into  his  house  and  appropri- 
ated his  corn  and  other  property.2 

1  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  302. 

2  Morton,  New  English  Canaan  (Force,  Tracts,  II.,  No.  v.), 
106,  107, 


1629]         GENESIS   OF   MASSACHUSETTS  193 

Meanwhile,  in  England,  an  important  determina- 
tion had  been  reached  by  the  leaders  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Company.  At  a  general  court,  July  28, 
1629,  Cradock,  the  governor,  read  ''certain  propo- 
sitions conceived  by  himself"  for  transferring  the 
headquarters  of  the  company  to  America.1  The 
matter  was  held  in  abeyance,  and  the  members  pres- 
ent were  instructed  to  consider  the  question  "pri- 
vately and  secretely."  August  26  twelve  of  the 
most  influential  members,  among  whom  were  John 
Winthrop,  Isaac  Johnson,  Thomas  Dudley,  and 
Richard  Saltonstall,  bound  themselves  by  a  written 
agreement  at  Cambridge  to  emigrate  with  their 
families  to  New  England  if  a  transfer  of  the  gov- 
ernment could  be  effected.2 

Three  days  later  the  company  held  another  meet- 
ing, when  the  removal  was  formally  proposed  and 
carried.  Accordingly,  such  of  the  old  officers  as  did 
not  wish  to  take  part  in  the  emigration  resigned  their 
places,  and  for  governor  the  choice  fell  upon  John 
Winthrop,  a  wealthy  gentleman  of  Groton,  in  Suf- 
folk, and  for  deputy  governor  upon  Thomas  Dud- 
ley, who  had  been  steward  of  the  earl  of  Lincoln. 
The  ultimate  effect  of  this  brilliant  stroke  was  to 
convert  the  company  into  a  colony.3 

This  change  of  policy  was  taken  when  affairs 
looked  particularly  dark  in  England,  for  it  was  about 

1  Mass.  Col.  Records,  I.,  49. 

2  Young,  Chronicles  of  Massachusetts,  282—284. 
8  Mass.  Col.  Records,  I.,  51. 


194  ENGLAND   IN    AMERICA  [1629 

this  time  that  King  Charles,  provoked  at  the  oppo- 
sition of  Parliament,  entered  upon  his  policy  of  rul- 
ing without  one.  March  10,  1629,  Parliament  was 
dissolved,  and  no  other  was  called  for  a  space  of 
eleven  years.  Several  of  the  most  eminent  mem- 
bers were  languishing  in  the  Tower  of  London,  and 
the  king's  proclamation  of  March  27  announced  that 
he  would  "account  it  as  a  presumption  for  any  to 
prescribe  any  time  unto  us  for  Parliaments,  the  call- 
ing, continuing,  and  dissolving  of  which  is  always  in 
our  power."  1 

The  result  was  a  general  stir  throughout  England, 
and  in  a  few  months  a  thousand  persons  prepared  to 
leave.  They  went  in  several  parties  in  seventeen 
ships,  and  there  was  probably  a  greater  proportion  of 
men  of  wealth  and  solid  respectability  than  ever  had 
left  England  for  America  in  any  one  year  before.  The 
colonists,  though  Puritans,  were  church  of  England 
men,  and  the  idea  of  any  separation  from  their  old 
religious  connections  was  expressly  disclaimed  in  a 
pamphlet  published  in  1630,  entitled  the  "  Planters' 
Plea,"  2  which  has  been,  with  good  reason,  assigned 
to  Rev.  John  White.  In  this  paper  the  writer  ap- 
peals to  the  address  of  the  colonists  at  their  depart- 
ure, wherein  they  termed  the  church  of  England 
"our  dear  mother."3  Apparently  anxious  to  re- 
pel the  imputation  of  nonconformity  against  "our 
New  England  colony,"  he  adds  the  confident  asser- 

1  Rymer,  Fcedera,  XIX.,  63.  2  Force,  Tracts,  II.,  No.  iii. 

3  Palfrey,  New  England,  I.,  312. 


1630]         GENESIS   OF   MASSACHUSETTS  195 

tion  that  John  Winthrop,  the  chosen  governor,  has 
been  "  in  every  way  regular  and  conformable  in  the 
whole  course  of  his  practice" ;  and  that "  three  parts 
of  four  of  the  men  planted  in  New  England  are 
able  to  justify  themselves  to  have  lived  in  a  con- 
stant conformity  unto  our  church  government  and 
orders." 

The  party  with  which  Winthrop  sailed  arrived  at 
Salem  June  12,  1630,  after  a  nine  weeks'  voyage,  in 
which  they  were  exposed  to  stormy  and  boisterous 
weather.  They  found  the  colony  of  Endicott  in  "  a 
sad  and  unexpected  condition."  More  than  a  fourth 
part  had  died  during  the  previous  winter,  and  many 
of  the  survivors  were  weak  and  sick.  There  was  a 
general  scarcity  of  bread  and  corn,  and  the  arrival 
of  Winthrop  and  his  emigrants  did  not  improve 
matters,  for  many  of  the  new-comers  were  suffering 
from  scurvy,  and  a  quantity  of  supplies  which  had 
been  bought  in  England  had  by  some  mistake  been 
left  behind.1 

1  Thomas  Dudley,  letter  to  the  countess  of  Lincoln  (Force, 
Tracts,  II.,  No.  iv.). 


CHAPTER  XII 

FOUNDING   OF    MASSACHUSETTS 
(1630-1642) 

WINTHROP'S  government  superseded  Endi- 
cott's;  but  Winthrop,  not  liking  the  appear- 
ance of  the  country  around  Salem,  repaired  to 
Charlestown  with  most  of  the  new-comers.  Here, 
as  elsewhere,  there  was  much  sickness  and  death. 
Owing  to  the  dearth  of  provisions  it  was  found 
necessary  to  free  all  the  servants  sent  over  within 
the  last  two  years  at  a  cost  of  £16  or  £20  each. 
The  discouragement  was  reflected  in  the  return 
to  England  within  a  few  months  of  more  than  a 
hundred  persons  in  the  ships  that  brought  them 
over. 

The  gloom  of  his  surroundings  caused  Winthrop 
to  set  apart  July  30  as  a  day  of  prayer,  and  on  that 
day  Rev.  John  Wilson,  after  the  manner  of  proceed- 
ing the  year  before  at  Salem,  entered  into  a  church 
covenant  with  Winthrop,  Dudley,  and  Isaac  John- 
son, one  of  the  assistants.  Two  days  later  they  as- 
sociated with  themselves  five  others ;  and  more  being 
presently  added,  this  third  congregational  church 
established  in  New  England,  elected,  August  27, 

196 


71'         Longitudt 


o 


Cod 


SETTLEMENTS  TO  1652 


C 


NEW    ENGLAND 
1552 

6CALE  OF  MILES 


West         70''       from  Greenwich         69 J 


07  " 


1630]      FOUNDING   OF   MASSACHUSETTS         197 

John  Wilson  to  be  their  teacher  and  Increase  Nowell 
to  be  ruling  elder.1 

Still  the  guise  of  loyalty  to  the  church  of  England 
was  for  some  time  maintained.  In  a  letter  to  the 
countess  of  Lincoln,  March  28,  1631,  the  deputy 
governor,  Thomas  Dudley,  one  of  the  warmest  of 
the  Puritans,  repelled  "the  false  and  scandalous 
report,"  which  those  who  returned  "the  last  year" 
had  spread  in  England  that  uwe  are  Brownists  in 
religion  and  ill  affected  to  our  state  at  home" ;  " and 
for  our  further  cleareinge,"  he  said,  "  I  truely  affirme 
that  I  know  noe  one  person  who  came  over  with  us 
the  last  yeare  to  be  altered  in  his  judgment  and  affec- 
tion eyther  in  ecclesiasticall  or  civill  respects  since 
our  comeinge  hither."2 

Winthrop  and  his  assistants  held  their  first  formal 
session  at  Charlestown,  August  23,  1630,  and  took 
vigorous  measures  to  demonstrate  their  authority. 
Morton  challenged  attention  on  account  not  only  of 
his  religious  views  and  his  friendship  for  Gorges,  but 
of  his  defiant  attitude  to  the  colony,  and  an  order 
was  issued  that  "  Morton,  of  Mount  Wolliston,  should 
presently  be  sent  for  by  process."  Two  weeks  later 
his  trial  was  had,  and  he  was  ordered  "to  be  set 
into  the  bilboes,"  and  afterwards  sent  prisoner  to 
England.  To  defray  the  charges  of  his  transpor- 
tation, his  goods  were  seized,  and  "for  the  many 
wrongs  he  had  done  the  Indians"  his  house  was 

1  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  332;  Winthrop,  New  England, 
I.,  36.  2  Force,  Tracts,  II.,  No.  iv.,  15. 


ig8     '  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1630 

burned  to  the  ground,1  a  sentence  which,  accord- 
ing to  Morton,  caused  the  Indians  to  say  that  "  God 
would  not  love  them  that  burned  this  good  man's 
house."  2 

Death  was  still  playing  havoc  with  the  immigrants 
at  Charlestown.  Several  hundred  men,  women,  and 
children  were  crowded  together  in  a  narrow  space, 
and  had  no  better  protection  than  tents,  wigwams, 
booths,  and  log-cabins.  By  December  two  hun- 
dred of  the  late  arrivals  had  perished,  and  among 
the  dead  were  Francis  Higginson,  who  had  taken  a 
leading  part  in  establishing  the  church  at  Salem,  the 
first  in  Massachusetts.3  The  severity  of  the  diseases 
was  ascribed  to  the  lack  of  good  water  at  Charles- 
town,  and,  accordingly,  the  settlers  there  broke  up 
into  small  parties  and  sought  out  different  places 
of  settlement. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  Charles  River  was  a  pen- 
insula occupied  by  William  Blackstone,  one  of  the 
companions  of  Robert  Gorges  at  Wessagusset  in 
1626.  It  was  blessed  with  a  sweet  and  pleasant 
spring,  and  was  one  of  the  places  now  selected  as  a 
settlement.  September  7,  1630,  the  court  of  assist- 
ants gave  this  place  the  name  of  Boston;  and  at 
the  same  court  Dorchester  and  Watertown  began 
their  career  under  legislative  sanction.4  Before 


1  Mass.  Col.  Records,  I.,  75. 

2  Morton,  New  English  Canaan  (Force,   Tracts,  II.,  No.  v.), 
109.  8  Dudley's  letter  (ibid.,  No.  iv.). 

4  Mass.  Col.  Records,  I.,  75,  77. 


1631]      FOUNDING   OF   MASSACHUSETTS         199 

winter  the  towns  scattered  through  Massachusetts 
were  eight  in  number — Salem,  Charlestown,  Dor- 
chester, Boston,  Watertown,  Roxbury,  Mystic,  and 
Lynn.1 

October  19,  1630,  a  general  court,  the  first  in 
New  England,  was  held  in  Boston.  The  member- 
ship consisted  of  the  governor,  deputy,  eight  assist- 
ants, and  one  or  two  others,  for  these  were  all  at 
that  time  in  Massachusetts  possessing  the  franchise 
of  the  company.2  The  former  officers  were  re- 
elected,  and  a  resolution  was  adopted  that  "  the 
freemen  should  have  the  power  to  choose  assistants 
when  they  are  to  be  chosen,  and  the  assistants  to 
choose  from  among  themselves  the  governor  and  his 
deputy."  The  rule  implied  a  strong  reluctance  to 
leave  out  of  the  board  any  person  once  elected  mag- 
istrate. 

From  the  last  week  in  December  to  the  middle 
of  February,  1631,  the  suffering  in  the  colony  was 
very  great,  especially  among  the  poorer  classes,  and 
many  died.  Were  it  not  for  the  abundance  of  clams, 
mussels,  and  fish  gathered  from  the  bay  there  might 
have  been  a  "starving  time,"  like  that  of  James- 
town in  1609.  Winthrop  appointed  a  fast  to  be 
kept  February  22,  1631 ;  but  February  5  the  Lyon 
arrived  with  supplies,  and  a  public  thanksgiving 
was  substituted  for  a  public  fasting.3 

1  Palfrey,  New  England,  I.,  323,  324  *  Ibid.,  323. 

3  Hubbard,  New.  England  (Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  26. 
series,  V.),  138,  139;  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  52. 


200  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1631 

From  this  time  the  colony  may  be  said  to  have 
secured  a  permanent  footing.  The  court  of  assist- 
ants, who  had  suspended  their  sessions  during  the 
winter,  now  began  to  meet  again,  and  made  many 
orders  with  reference  to  the  economic  and  social 
affairs  of  the  colonists.  There  were  few  natives  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  settlement,  and  Chicka- 
tabot,  their  sachem,  anxious  to  secure  the  protection 
of  the  English  against  the  Taratines,  of  Maine, 
visited  Boston  in  April  and  established  friendly 
communications.1  At  the  courts  of  elections  of 
1631,  1632,  and  1633  Winthrop  was  re-elected  gover- 
nor. His  conduct  was  not  deemed  harsh  enough  by 
some  people,  and  in  1634  Thomas  Dudley  succeeded 
him.  In  1635  John  Haynes  became  governor,  and 
in  1636  Henry  Vane,  known  in  English  history  as 
Sir  Harry  Vane,  after  which  time  the  governorship 
was  restored  to  Winthrop. 

Puritanism  entered  the  warp  and  woof  of  the 
Massachusetts  colony,  and  a  combination  of  circum- 
stances tended  to  build  up  a  theocracy  which  domi- 
nated affairs.  The  ministers  who  came  over  were 
among  the  most  learned  men  of  the  age,  and  the  in- 
fluence which  their  talents  and  character  gave  them 
was  greatly  increased  by  the  sufferings  and  the  iso- 
lation of  the  church  members,  who  were  thus  brought 
to  confide  all  the  more  in  those  who,  under  such  con- 
ditions, dispensed  religious  consolation.  Moreover, 
the  few  who  had  at  first  the  direction  of  civil  matters 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  64. 


1636]      FOUNDING   OF   MASSACHUSETTS         201 

were  strongly  religious  men,  and  inclined  to  pro- 
mote the  unity  of  the  church  by  all  the  means  at 
hand. 

We  have  noticed  the  turn  of  affairs  given  by 
Endicott  at  Salem,  and  how  Winthrop  followed  his 
example  on  his  arrival  at  Charlestown.  After  the 
court  of  assistants  resumed  their  meetings  in  March, 
1631,  the  upbuilding  of  the  theocracy  was  rapidly 
pushed.  Various  people  deemed  inimical  to  the 
accepted  state  of  affairs  were  punished  with  banish- 
ment from  the  colony,  and  in  some  cases  the  penalties 
of  whipping,  cropping  of  ears,  and  confiscation  of 
estate  were  added.  In  some  cases,  as  that  of  Sir 
Christopher  Gardiner,  a  secret  agent  of  Sir  Ferdi- 
nando  Gorges,  there  was  reason  for  parting  with  these 
people;  but  in  other  cases  the  principle  of  punish- 
ment was  persecution  and  not  justice.  There  is  a 
record  of  an  order  for  reshipping  to  England  six 
persons  of  whose  offence  nothing  more  is  recorded 
than  "that  they  were  persons  unmeet  to  inhabit 
here."  i 

The  most  decided  enlargement  of  the  power  of 
the  theocracy  was  made  in  the  general  court  which 
met  at  Boston  in  May,  1631,  when  it  was  resolved 
that  the  assistants  need  not  be  chosen  afresh  every 
year,  but  might  keep  their  seats  until  removed  by  a 
special  vote  of  the  freemen.2  The  company  was  en- 
larged by  the  addition  of  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
"freemen";  but  "to  the  end  that  the  body  of  the 

1  Mass.  Col.  Records,  L,  82.  3  Ibid.,  87. 


202  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1631 

commons  may  be  preserved  of  honest  and  good 
men,"  it  was  ordered  that  "for  the  time  to  come 
no  man  should  be  admitted  to  the  freedom  of  this 
body  politic  but  such  as  are  members  of  some  of 
the  churches  within  the  limits  of  the  same." 

These  proceedings  practically  vested  all  the  ju- 
dicial and  legislative  powers  in  the  court  of  assist- 
ants, whose  tenure  was  permanent,  and  left  to  the 
freemen  in  the  general  court  little  else  than  the 
power  of  admitting  freemen.  Not  only  was  citizen- 
ship based  on  church -membership,  but  the  Bible  was 
the  only  law-book  recognized  by  the  court  of  assist- 
ants. Of  this  book  the  ministers  were  naturally 
thought  the  best  interpreters,  and  it  thus  became 
the  custom  for  the  magistrates  to  consult  them  on 
all  questions  of  importance.  Offenders  were  not 
merely  law-breakers,  but  sinners,  and  their  offences 
ranged  from  such  as  wore  long  hair  to  such  as  dealt 
in  witchcraft  and  sorcery. 

Fortunately,  this  system  did  not  long  continue 
without  some  modification.  In  February,  1632,  the 
court  of  assistants  assessed  a  tax  upon  the  towns 
for  the  erection  of  a  fortification  at  Newtown,  sub- 
sequently Cambridge.  The  inhabitants  of  Water- 
town  grumbled  about  paying  their  proportion  of 
this  tax,  and  at  the  third  general  court,  May  9, 
1632,  it  was  ordered  that  hereafter  the  governor  and 
assistants  in  laying  taxes  should  be  guided  by  the 
advice  of  a  board  composed  of  two  delegates  from 
every  town ;  and  that  the  governor  and  other  magis- 


i644]      FOUNDING   OF   MASSACHUSETTS         203 

trates  should  be  elected  by  the  whole  body  of  the 
freemen  assembled  as  the  charter  required. 

Two  years  later  a  general  court  consisting  of  the 
governor,  assistants,  and  two  "  committees,"  or  dele- 
gates, elected  by  the  freemen  resident  in  each  town, 
assembled  and  assumed  the  powers  of  legislation.1 
This  change,  which  brought  about  a  popular  repre- 
sentative body — second  in  point  of  time  only  to 
Virginia — was  a  natural  extension  of  the  proceed- 
ings of  1632.  In  1644  the  assistants  and  delegates 
quarrelled  over  an  appeal  in  a  lawsuit,  and  as  a 
result  the  division  of  the  court  into  two  co-ordinate 
branches  occurred.2 

Nevertheless,  the  authority  of  the  court  of  as- 
sistants, for  several  reasons,  continued  to  be  very 
great.  In  the-  first  place,  unlike  the  Council  of 
Virginia,  which  could  only  amend  or  reject  the  action 
of  the  lower  house,  the  assistants  had  the  right  of 
originating  laws.  Then  the  custom  at  the  annual 
elections  of  first  putting  the  names  of  the  incum- 
bents to  the  vote  made  the  tenure  of  its  members  a 
pretty  constant  affair.  Next,  as  a  court,  it  exercised 
for  years  a  vast  amount  of  discretionary  power. 
Not  till  1641  was  the  first  code,  called  the  Body  of 
Liberties,  adopted,  and  this  code  itself  permitted  the 
assistants  to  supply  any  defect  in  the  law  by  the 
"word  of  God,"  a  phrase  which  to  the  followers 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  84,  90,  152. 
3  Mass.  Col.  Records,  II.,  58,  59;   Winthrop,   New  England, 
II.,  115-118,  193. 


204  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1631 

of  Calvin  had  especial  reference  to  the  fierce  legisla- 
tion of  the  Old  Testament. 

The  course  of  the  colonial  authorities  speedily 
jeopardized  the  charter  which  they  obtained  so  read- 
ily from  the  king.  Upon  the  arrival  in  England,  in 
1631,  of  Morton,  Gardiner,  and  other  victims  of  the 
court  of  assistants,  they  communicated  with  Gorges 
(now  powerfully  assisted  by  John  Mason) ;  and  he 
gladly  seized  upon  their  complaints  to  accuse  the 
ministers  and  people  of  Massachusetts  of  railing 
against  the  state  and  church  of  England,  and  of  an 
evident  purpose  of  casting  off  their  allegiance  at  the 
first  favorable  opportunity.  The  complaint  was 
referred,  in  December,  1632,  to  a  committee  of  the 
council,1  before  whom  the  friends  of  the  company 
in  London — Cradock,  Saltonstall,  and  Humphrey- 
filed  a  written  answer.  Affairs  bore  a  bad  appear- 
ance for  the  colonists,  but  the  unexpected  hap- 
pened. Powerful  influences  at  court  were  brought 
to  bear  upon  the  members  of  the  committee,  and  to 
the  astonishment  of  every  one  they  reported,  Jan- 
uary 19,  1633,  against  any  interference  until  "  further 
inquiry"  could  be  made.2  King  Charles  not  only 
approved  this  report,  but  volunteered  the  remark 
that  "he  would  have  them  severely  punished  who 
did  abuse  his  governor  and  the  plantation."  3 

Though  the  danger  for  the  present  was  avoided, 

1  Col.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.  1574-1660,  p.  158. 

2  Bradford,  Plimolh  Plantation,  356. 

8  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  122,  123. 


1 634]      FOUNDING  OP   MASSACHUSETTS         205 

it  was  not  wholly  removed.  In  August,  1633,  Laud 
was  made  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  his  ac- 
cession to  authority  was  distinguished  by  a  more 
rigorous  enforcement  of  the  laws  against  Noncon- 
formists. The  effect  was  to  cause  the  lagging  emi- 
gration to  New  England  to  assume  immense  volume. 
There  was  no  longer  concealment  of  the  purposes  of 
the  emigrants,  for  the  Puritan  preachers  began  ev- 
erywhere to  speak  openly  of  the  corruptions  of  the 
English  church.1  In  September,  1633,  the  theoc- 
racy of  Massachusetts  were  reinforced  by  three  emi- 
nent ministers,  John  Cotton,  Thomas  Hooker,  and 
Thomas  Shepard ;  and  so  many  other  persons  ac- 
companied and  followed  them  that  by  the  end  of 
1634  the  population  was  not  far  short  of  four  thou- 
sand. The  clergy,  now  thirteen  or  fourteen  in  num- 
ber, were  nearly  all  graduates  of  Oxford  or  Cambridge. 
This  exodus  of  so  many  of  the  best,  "both  min- 
isters and  Christians,"  2  aroused  the  king  and 
Archbishop  Laud  to  the  danger  threatened  by  the 
Massachusetts  colony.  Gorges,  Mason,  and  the  rest 
renewed  the  attack,  and  in  February,  1634,  an  order 
was  obtained  from  the  Privy  Council  for  the  deten- 
tion of  ten  vessels  bound  for  Massachusetts.  At  the 
same  time  Cradock,  the  ex-governor  of  the  com- 
pany, was  commanded  by  the  Privy  Council  to  hand 
in  the  Massachusetts  charter.3  Soon  after,  the 

1  Cal.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  p.  174. 

2  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  161. 

3  Hazard,  State  Papers,  I.,  341. 
VOL.  iv. — 15 


2o6  ENGLAND   IN  AMERICA  [1634 

king  announced  his  intention  of  "giving  order  for  a 
general  governor"  for  New  England;  and  in  April, 
1634,  he  appointed  a  new  commission  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  colonies,  called  "  The  Commission 
for  Foreign  Plantations,"  with  William  Laud,  arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  at  the  head.  Mr.  Cradock 
transmitted  a  copy  of  the  order  of  council,  requiring 
a  production  of  the  charter,  to  Boston,  where  it  was 
received  by  Governor  Dudley  in  July,  1634. 

This  was  a  momentous  crisis  in  the  history  of  the 
colony.  The  governor  and  assistants  made  answer 
to  Mr.  Cradock  that  the  charter  could  not  be  returned 
except  by  command  of  the  general  court,  not  then 
in  session.  At  the  same  time  orders  were  given  for 
fortifying  Castle  Island,  Dorchester,  and  Charles- 
town.  In  this  moment  of  excitement  the  figure  of 
Endicott  again  dramatically  crosses  the  stage  of  his- 
tory. Conceiving  an  intense  dislike  to  the  cross  in 
the  English  flag,  he  denounced  it  as  antichrist,  and 
cut  it  out  with  his  own  hands  from  the  ensign  borne 
by  the  company  at  Salem.  Endicott  was  censured 
by  the  general  court  for  the  act,  but  soon  the  cross 
was  left  out  of  all  the  flags  except  that  of  the  fort 
at  Castle  Island,  in  Boston  Harbor.1 

Massachusetts,  while  taking  these  bold  measures 
at  home,  did  not  neglect  the  protection  of  her  inter- 
ests in  England.  The  government  of  Plymouth,  in 
July,  1634,  sent  Edward  Winslow  to  England,  and 
Governor  Dudley  and  his  council  engaged  him  to 
1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  161,  163,  166,  186,  188,  224. 


1635]      FOUNDING   OF   MASSACHUSETTS         207 

present  an  humble  petition  in  their  behalf.1  Win- 
slow  was  a  shrewd  diplomat,  but  was  so  far  from 
succeeding  with  his  suit  that  upon  his  appearance 
before  the  lords  commissioners  in  1635  he  was, 
through  Laud's  "vehement  importunity,"  com- 
mitted to  Fleet  Prison,  where  he  lay  seventeen 
weeks.2 

Gorges  and  Mason  lost  no  time  in  improving  their 
victory.  February  3,  1635,  they  secured  a  redi- 
vision  of  the  coast  of  New  England  by  the  Council 
for  New  England,  into  twelve  parts,  which  were  as- 
signed to  as  many  persons.  Sir  William  Alexander 
received  the  country  from  the  river  St.  Croix  to 
Pemaquid;  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  the  province  of 
Maine  from  Penobscot  to  Piscataqua;  Captain  John 
Mason,  New  Hampshire  and  part  of  Massachusetts 
as  far  as  Cape  Ann,  while  the  coast  from  Cape  Ann 
to  Narragansett  Bay  fell  to  Lord  Edward  Gorges, 
and  the  portion  from  Narragansett  Bay  to  the 
Connecticut  River  to  the  duke  of  Hamilton.3 

April  25, 1635,  the  Council  for  New  England  issued 
a  formal  declaration  of  their  reasons  for  resigning 
the  great  charter  to  the  king,  chief  among  which 
was  their  inability  to  rectify  the  complaints  of 
their  servants  in  America  against  the  Massachusetts 
Company,  who  had  " surreptitiously"  obtained  a 
charter  for  lands  "  justly  passed  to  Captain  Robert 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  163. 

3  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  393. 

*  Maine  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  2d  series,  VII.,  183-188, 


208  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1635 

Gorges  long  before."  l  June  7  the  charter  was  sur- 
rendered to  the  king,  who  appointed  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges  "  general  governor."  The  expiring  company 
further  appointed  Thomas  Morton  as  their  lawyer 
to  ask  for  a  quo  warranto  against  the  charter  of  the 
Massachusetts  Company. 

In  September,  1635,  judgment  was  given  in  West- 
minster Hall  that  "  the  franchises  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Company  be  taken  and  seized  into  the  king's 
hands."2  But,  as  Winthrop  said,  the  Lord  "frus- 
trated their  designs."  King  Charles  was  trying  to 
rule  without  a  Parliament,  and  had  no  money  to 
spend  against  New  England.  Therefore,  the  cost 
of  carrying  out  the  orders  of  the  government  de- 
volved upon  Mason  and  Gorges,  who  set  to  work  to 
build  a  ship  to  convey  the  latter  to  America,  but  it 
fell  and  broke  in  the  launching,3  and  about  Novem- 
ber, 1635,  Captain  John  Mason  died. 

After  this,  though  the  king  in  council,  in  July, 
1637,  named  Gorges  again  as  "general  governor,"  4 
and  the  Lords  Commissioners  for  Plantations,  in 
April,  1638,  demanded  the  charter  anew,5  the 
Massachusetts  general  court  would  not  recognize 
either  order.  Gorges  could  not  raise  the  necessary 
funds  to  compel  obedience,  and  the  attention  of  the 
king  and  his  archbishop  was  occupied  with  forcing 

1  Cat.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  pp.  200,  204. 

2  Hazard,  State  Papers,  I.,  423-425. 
8  Winthrop,  New  England,  II.,  12. 

4  Cat.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  p.  256, 
6  Hazard,  State  Papers,  I.,  432. 


1658]       FOUNDING   OF   MASSACHUSETTS         209 

episcopacy  upon  Scotland.  In  1642  war  began  in 
England  between  Parliament  and  king,  and  Massa- 
chusetts was  left  free  to  shape  her  own  destinies. 
It  was  now  her  turn  to  become  aggressive.  Con- 
struing her  charter  to  mean  that  her  territory  ex- 
tended to  a  due  east  line  three  miles  north  of  the 
most  northerly  branch  of  Merrimac  River,  she  pos- 
sessed herself,  in  1641,  of  New  Hampshire,  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  heirs  of  John  Mason;  and  in  1653-1658, 
of  Maine,  the  province  of  Gorges. 

When  the  Long  Parliament  met,  in  1641,  the 
Puritans  in  England  found  enough  occupation  at 
home,  and  emigration  greatly  diminished.  In  1643 
Massachusetts  became  a  member  of  the  New  England 
confederation,  and  her  population  was  then  about 
fifteen  thousand ;  but  nearly  as  many  more  had  come 
over  and  were  distributed  among  three  new  colonies 
— Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  and  New  Haven. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

RELIGION    AND    GOVERNMENT    IN    MASSA- 
CHUSETTS 

(1631-1638) 

HPHE  history  of  the  beginnings  of  the  Massachu- 
1  setts  colony  shows  that  there  was  no  real  unity 
in  church  matters  among  the  first  emigrants.  The 
majority  were  strongly  tinctured  with  Puritanism, 
but  nonconformity  took  on  many  shades  of  opinion. 
When  it  came  to  adopting  a  form  of  religion  for 
Massachusetts,  the  question  was  decided  by  the 
ministers  and  the  handful  who  then  enjoyed  the  con- 
trolling power  in  the  colony,  and  not  by  the  majority 
of  inhabitants.  It  was  in  this  way  that  the  Congre- 
gational church,  and  not  the  Presbyterian  church, 
or  a  simplified  form  of  the  Anglican  church,  ob- 
tained its  first  hold  upon  the  colony. 

The  adoption  of  the  law  of  1631  making  member- 
ship in  the  Congregational  church  the  condition  of 
citizenship,  and  the  arrival  at  a  later  day  of  so  many 
talented  ministers  embittered  by  persecution  against 
the  Anglican  church,  strengthened  the  connection 
and  made  it  permanent.  "  God's  word  "  was  the  law 
of  the  state,  and  the  interpretation  of  it  was  the  nat- 

210 


1631]        RELIGION   AND    GOVERNMENT  211 

ural  function  of  the  clergy.  Thus,  through  church 
influence,  the  limitations  on  thought  and  religious 
practice  became  more  stringent  than  in  the  mother- 
country,  where  the  suffrage  took  in  all  freeholders, 
whether  they  were  adherents  of  the  established 
church  or  not. 

In  Massachusetts  even  Puritans  who  declined  to 
acknowledge  the  form  of  church  government  pre- 
scribed by  the  self  -  established  ecclesiastical  au- 
thority were  practically  aliens,  compelled  to  bear 
the  burdens  of  church  and  state,  and  without  a 
chance  of  making  themselves  felt  in  the  govern- 
ment. And  yet,  from  their  own  point  of  view,  the 
position  of  the  Puritan  rulers  was  totally  illogical. 
While  suffering  from  persecution  in  England,  they 
had  appealed  to  liberty  of  conscience;  and  when 
dominant  in  America  the  denouncers  of  persecu- 
tion turned  persecutors. 

A  spirit  of  resistance  on  the  part  of  many  was  the 
natural  consequence  of  a  position  so  full  of  contra- 
diction. Instances  of  contumacy  happened  with 
such  frequency  and  determination  as  should  have 
given  warning  to  those  in  control.  In  November, 
1631,  Richard  Brown,  an  elder  in  the  Watertown 
church,  was  reported  to  hold  that  "  the  Romish 
church  was  a  Christian  church. ' '  Forthwith  the  court 
of  assistants  notified  the  Watertown  congregation 
that  such  views  could  not  be  allowed,  and  Winthrop, 
who  went  in  person  with  the  deputy  governor, 
Dudley,  used  such  summary  arguments  that  Rich- 


212  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1631 

ard  Brown,  though  "a  man  of  violent  spirit," 
thought  it  prudent  to  hold  his  tongue  thereafter. 
In  November,  1634,  John  Eliot,  known  afterwards 
so  well  for  his  noble  work  among  the  Indians,  in  a 
sermon  censured  the  court  for  proceeding  too  ar- 
bitrarily towards  the  Pequots.  He,  too,  thought 
better  of  his  words  when  a  solemn  embassy  of  min- 
isters presented  the  matter  in  a  more  orthodox 
light. 

In  March,  1635,  Captain  Israel  Stoughton,  one 
of  the  deputies  from  Dorchester  to  the  general 
court,  incurred  the  resentment  of  the  authorities. 
This  "troubler  of  Israel,"  as  Governor  Winthrop 
termed  him,  wrote  a  pamphlet  denying  the  right  of 
the  governor  and  assistants  to  call  themselves 
"Scriptural  Magistrates."  Being  questioned  by  the 
court,  the  captain  made  haste,  according  to  the 
record,  to  desire  that  "  the  said  book  might  be  burned 
as  being  weak  and  oppressive."  Still  unsatisfied, 
the  court  ordered  that  for  his  said  offence  he  should 
for  three  years  be  disabled  from  bearing  any  office 
in  the  colony.1 

The  first  great  check  which  this  religious  despotism 
received  proceeded  from  Roger  Williams,  who  ar- 
rived in  February,  1631,  in  the  Lyon,  which  brought 
supplies  to  the  famishing  colonists  of  Massachusetts. 
He  was  the  son  of  a  merchant  in  London  and  a 
graduate  of  Pembroke  College,  Cambridge,  where  he 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  70,  81,  113,  179,  185;  Col.  of 
State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  p.  180. 


1633]        RELIGION  AND   GOVERNMENT          213 

took  the  degree  of  master  of  arts  in  1627.  In  his 
mere  religious  creed  Williams  was  harsher  than  even 
the  orthodox  ministers  of  Massachusetts.  Soon 
after  his  arrival  he  was  invited  to  become  one  of 
the  ministers  of  the  Boston  church,  but  refused 
because  that  church  declined  to  make  a  public 
declaration  of  their  repentance  for  holding  commu- 
nion in  the  churches  of  England  while  they  lived 
in  the  home  country. 

He  was  then  invited  to  Salem,  where  he  made 
himself  very  popular  by  his  talents  and  eloquence. 
Nevertheless,  within  two  months  he  advanced  other 
"  scrupulosities, "  denying  the  validity  of  land-titles 
proceeding  from  the  Massachusetts  government, 
and  the  right  of  the  magistrates  to  impose  pen- 
alties as  to  Sabbath  -  breaking  or  breaches  of 
the  laws  of  the  first  table.  Winthrop  and  his 
assistants  complained  to  the  Salem  church,  and 
this  interference  prevented  his  intended  ordination 
at  Salem.1 

Williams  presently  removed  to  Plymouth,  where 
his  peculiar  views  were  indulged,  and  where  he  im- 
proved his  time  in  learning  the  Indian  language  and 
cultivating  the  acquaintance  of  the  chief  sachems 
of  the  neighboring  Indian  tribes.  When,  two  years 
later,  in  1633,  Williams  returned  to  live  at  Salem 
for  the  purpose  of  assisting  the  minister,  Mr.  Skel- 
ton,  who  was  sick,  the  rulers  of  the  church  at  Plym- 
outh granted  him  a  dismissal,  but  accompanied  it 
1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  49,  63. 


214  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1633 

with  some  words  of  warning  about  his  "unsettled 
judgment  and  inconsistency."1 

Williams  was  soon  in  trouble  in  Massachusetts. 
While  at  Plymouth  his  interest  in  the  Indians  led 
him  to  prepare  for  the  private  reading  of  Bradford 
a  pamphlet  which  argued  that  the  king  of  England 
had  no  right  to  give  away  the  lands  of  the  Indi- 
ans in  America.  The  pamphlet  had  never  been 
published,  but  reports  of  its  contents  reached  Bos- 
ton, and  the  court  of  assistants,  following,  as  usual, 
the  advice  of  the  ministers,  pounced  upon  the 
author  and  summoned  him  to  answer  for  what 
it  was  claimed  was  a  denial  of  their  charter 
rights. 

When  Williams  appeared  for  this  purpose,  in 
January,  1634,  the  objections  of  the  court  shifted  to 
some  vague  phrases  in  the  document  which  they  con- 
strued to  reflect  upon  the  king.  These  expressions 
were  readily  explained  by  Williams,  and  he  was 
promptly  forgiven  by  the  court  on  his  professing 
loyalty  and  taking  the  usual  oath  of  allegiance  to 
his  majesty.2  Perhaps  this  singular  behavior  on 
the  part  of  the  court  is  explained  by  the  apprehen- 
sion generally  felt  that  Ferdinando  Gorges,  in  Eng- 
land, would  succeed  in  his  attempt  to  vacate  the 
charter  of  Massachusetts.  If  the  charter  had  been 
successfully  called  in,  Williams's  ground  of  the  suffi- 

1  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  370;  Hubbard,  New  England 
(Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  26.  series,  V.),  203. 

2  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  145.  147. 


1634]        RELIGION   AND   GOVERNMENT          215 

ciency  of  the  Indian  title  to  lands  might  have  proved 
useful  as  a  last  resort.1 

Nevertheless,  in  November,  1634,  the  authorities 
were  on  his  track  again.  The  pretext  now  was  that 
Williams  "taught  publicly  against  the  king's  pat- 
ent, "  and  that  "  he  termed  the  churches  of  England 
antichristian."  This  revamping  of  an  old  charge 
which  had  been  explained  and  dropped  was  prob- 
ably due  to  a  change  of  attitude  towards  the  Eng- 
lish government.  In  May,  1634,  the  general  court 
elected  the  intolerant  deputy  governor,  Thomas 
Dudley,  governor  in  the  place  of  Winthrop;  and 
when  in  July  the  news  of  the  demand  of  the  Lords 
Commissioners  for  Foreign  Plantations  for  the  sur- 
render of  the  colony  charter  was  received  at  Boston, 
the  new  governor  took  steps,  as  we  have  seen,  to 
commit  the  colony  to  a  fight  rather  than  yield  com- 
pliance.2 

Nothing,  however,  resulted  from  the  charges 
against  Williams,  and  it  was  not  until  March,  1635, 
that  he  again  excited  the  wrath  of  the  government. 
Then  his  scruples  took  the  shape  of  objections  to 
the  recent  legislation  requiring  every  resident  to 
swear  to  defend  the  provincial  charter.  Williams 
declared  that  the  state  had  no  right  to  demand  an 
oath  of  an  "  unregenerate  man,"  for  that "  we  thereby 
had  communion  with  a  wicked  man  in  the  worship  of 
God  and  caused  him  to  take  the  name  of  God  in  vain." 

1  Eggleston,  Beginners  of  a  Nation,  282. 

2  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  163,  166,  180. 


2i6  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1635 

Williams  was,  accordingly,  summoned  to  Boston 
in  April,  and  subjected  to  confutation  by  the  min- 
isters, but  positive  action  was  deferred.  While  the 
matter  remained  thus  undetermined,  the  church  at 
Salem  elected  him  teacher,  and  this  action  was  con- 
strued as -a  contempt  on  the  part  of  both  Williams 
and  the  Salem  church.  Accordingly,  when  the 
general  court  met  in  July,  1635,  Haynes  now  being 
governor,  it  entered  an  order  giving  them  till  next 
court  to  make  satisfaction  for  their  conduct.  At  the 
same  court  a  petition  of  the  Salem  church  for  some 
land  in  Marblehead  Neck  was  rejected  "because 
they  had  chosen  Mr.  Williams  their  teacher." 

Affairs  had  now  drawn  to  a  crisis.  The  Salem 
church  wrote  a  letter  to  all  the  other  churches  pro- 
testing against  their  treatment,  and  Williams  notified 
his  own  church  that  he  would  not  commune  with 
them  unless  they  declined  to  commune  with  the 
other  churches  of  the  colony. 

When  the  general  court  met  in  September,  Salem 
was  punished  with  the  loss  of  representation,  and 
thereupon  gave  way  and  submitted.  Not  so  Will- 
iams. In  October,  1635,  he  was  again  "  con  vented," 
and  on  his  refusing,  in  the  presence  of  all  the 
ministers  of  the  colony,  to  renounce  his  opinions, 
he  was  banished  from  Massachusetts.  The  time 
given  him  to  depart  was  only  six  weeks,  and 
though  some  of  the  laymen  in  the  church  op- 
posed the  decree,  every  clerical  member  save  one 
approved  it. 


1636]        RELIGION   AND   GOVERNMENT  217 

Liberty  to  remain  till  spring  was  afterwards  grant- 
ed Williams,  but  he  was  admonished  not  to  go  about 
to  draw  others  to  his  opinions.  As  Williams  was 
one  of  those  contentious  people  who  must  talk,  this 
inhibition  was  futile.  It  is  true  that  he  no  longer 
preached  in  his  church,  as  the  congregation  had 
submitted  to  the  will  of  those  in  power.  But  he 
conversed  in  private  with  some  of  his  friends,  and 
arranged  a  plan  of  establishing  a  new  settlement  on 
the  shores  of  Narragansett  Bay. 

When  information  of  this  design  reached  Boston 
in  January,  1636,  the  authorities,  on  the  plea  that 
an  heretical  settlement  in  the  neighborhood  might 
affect  the  peace  of  the  colony,  determined  to  get  rid 
of  Williams  altogether  by  shipping  him  to  England. 
An  order  was  sent  to  him  to  come  to  Boston,  which 
he  declined  to  obey  on  account  of  ill-health.  Cap- 
tain Underhill  was  then  sent  to  take  him  by  force, 
but  before  the  doughty  captain  could  arrive,  Will-  * 
iams,  getting  intelligence  of  his  purpose,  sick  as  he 
was,  left  his  wife  and  two  infant  children  and  hur- 
ried away,  and  no  one  at  Salem  would  give  Under- 
hill any  information.1 

Thirty-five  years  later  Williams  wrote,  "I  was 
sorely  tossed  for  one  fourteen  weeks,  in  a  bitter 
winter  season,  not  knowing  what  bed  or  bread  did 
mean."  In  this  extremity  he  experienced  the 
benefits  of  the  friendly  relations  which  he  had  culti- 
vated with  the  Indians  at  Plymouth,  for  the  Po- 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  188,  193,  198,  204,  209,  2ip. 


2i$  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1636 

kanokets  received  him  kindly  and  gave  him  some 
land  on  the  Seekonk  River. 

The  long  arm  of  the  Massachusetts  authorities 
reached  out  for  him  even  here.  He  was  soon  ad- 
vised by  his  friend,  Governor  Winslow,  of  Plymouth, 
that  as  his  plantation  was  within  the  limits  of  the 
Plymouth  colony  he  had  better  remove  to  the  other 
side  of  the  river,  as  his  government  was  "loath  to 
displease  the  Bay."  So  Williams,  with  five  of  his 
friends,  who  now  joined  him,  embarked  in  his  canoe 
and  established  his  settlement  in  June,  1636,  at 
Providence,  where  he  was  joined  by  many  members 
of  the  church  of  Salem.1  This  was  the  beginning 
of  Rhode  Island,  or,  rather,  of  one  of  the  begin- 
nings of  their  complex  colony. 

The  religion  of  the  ruling  class  in  Massachusetts, 
though  bitterly  hostile  to  the  ritual  of  the  English 
church,  was  a  matter  of  strict  regulation  —  there 
were  rules  regarding  fast  days,  Sabbath  attendance, 
prayer-meetings,  apparel,  and  speech.  The  wrath  of 
God  and  eternal  punishment  formed  the  substance 
of  every  sermon.  In  the  church  at  Boston  this  rigid 
system  found  a  standard  exponent  in  the  pastor, 
John  Wilson;  but  the  "teacher,"  John  Cotton,  a 
man  of  far  greater  ability,  sometimes  preached  ser- 
mons in  which  he  dwelt  upon  the  divine  mercy  and 
love.  The  result  was  that  the  people  crowded  to 
hear  him,  and  more  persons  were  converted  and 
added  to  the  church  in  Boston  in  the  earlier  months 
,  Hist.  Soc,,  Collections,  ist  series,  I.,  27$. 


1636]        RELIGION   AND   GOVERNMENT          219 

of  Cotton's  residence  than  in  all  the  other  churches 
in  the  colony.1 

Among  the  members  of  Cotton's  church  was  Mrs. 
Anne  Hutchinson,  who  knew  Cotton  in  England 
and  had  crossed  the  sea  to  hear  his  teachings.  After 
her  arrival,  in  June,  1636,  she  made  herself  very 
popular  by  her  ministrations  "  in  time  of  child- 
birth and  other  occasions  of  bodily  infirmities." 
Soon  she  ventured  to  hold  open  meetings  for  women, 
at  which  the  sermons  of  the  ministers  furnished  the 
subject  of  comment.  From  a  mere  critic  of  the 
opinions  of  others  Mrs.  Hutchinson  gradually  pre- 
sumed to  act  the  part  of  teacher  herself,  and  her 
views  on  the  questions  of  "a  covenant  of  works" 
and  "a  covenant  of  grace"  attracted  much  atten- 
tion.2 The  former  of  these  terms  had  been  used  by 
Protestants  to  designate  the  condition  of  the  Catho- 
lic church,  which  imposed  as  the  condition  of  salva- 
tion penances,  confessions,  pilgrimages,  legacies  to 
the  church,  etc. ;  while  the  latter  expression  described 
the  condition  of  all  true  Protestant  Christians  who 
found  peace  in  the  consciousness  of  holiness  of  spirit 
and  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 

Mrs.  Hutchinson  gave  an  emotional  rendering  to 
the  "  covenant  of  grace,"  and  held  that  the  divine 
spirit  dwelt  in  every  true  believer  and  no  demeanor 
in  life  could  evidence  its  existence.  To  the  Massa- 
chusetts ministers  this  doctrine  seemed  like  a  claim 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  144. 

8  Adams,  Three  Episodes  of  Mass.  Hist.,  I.,  339. 


220  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1636 

to  inspiration,  and  struck  at  the  whole  discipline  of 
the  church.  But  what  disturbed  them  more  than 
anything  else  was  the  report  that  she  had  singled 
out  two  of  the  whole  order,  John  Cotton  and  her 
brother-in-law  John  Wheelwright,  to  praise  as  walk- 
ing in  "the  covenant  of  grace."  i 

The  quarrel  began  first  in  the  bosom  of  the  Boston 
church.  Wilson,  the  pastor,  resented  Mrs.  Hutchin- 
son's  preference  of  Mr.  Cotton,  the  teacher,  and 
began  to  denounce  Mrs.  Hutchinson's  opinions. 
The  congregation  divided  into  two  factions;  on  the 
one  side  was  the  pastor,  supported  by  John  Winthrop 
and  a  few  others,  and  on  the  other  were  Mrs.  Hutch- 
inson,  young  Harry  Vane,  then  governor,  and  the 
large  majority  of  the  members.  Mr.  Cotton  was 
not  identified  with  either  side,  but  sympathized  with 
the  latter.  Matters  verged  to  a  crisis  when  the 
Hutchinsonians  announced  their  intention  of  elect- 
ing Mr.  Wheelwright,  who  had  not  long  since  arrived, 
as  a  second  teacher  in  the  church. 

The  election  was  to  take  place  on  Sunday,  October 
30,  1636;  but  October  25  the  general  court  met  and 
the  ministers  from  other  parts  of  the  colony  came 
to  Boston  and  held  a  conference  at  which  Cotton, 
Wheelwright,  and  Wilson  were  present,  and  there 
was  a  general  discussion  of  all  points  in  controversy. 
They  agreed  that  "  sanctification "  (i.e.,  a  holy  de- 
portment) did  help  to  evidence  " justification" 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  239;  Hutchinson,  Massachusetts 
Bay,  I.,  435- 


1636]        RELIGION   AND   GOVERNMENT          221 

(salvation) ;  but  there  was  more  or  less  difference  on 
the  question  of  the  "indwelling  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 
Mr.  Wheelwright  argued  in  its  favor,  but  held  that 
the  indwelling  referred  to  did  not  amount  to  "a 
personal  union  with  God,"  as  Mrs.  Hutchinson  and 
Governor  Vane  contended. 

The  conference  instead  of  quieting  aggravated 
the  difficulty.  Five  days  later,  when  Mr.  Wheel- 
wright's name  was  voted  upon,  Winthrop  rose  and 
hotly  objected  to  him  on  the  ground  that  he  held 
unorthodox  opinions  respecting  the  indwelling  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  and  was  apt  to  raise  "doubtful  dis- 
putations." As  a  consequence  the  church  would 
not  elect  Wheelwright  in  the  face  of  an  objection 
from  so  prominent  a  member  as  Winthrop.  Next 
day  Winthrop  continued  his  attack,  insisting  that 
Wheelwright  must  necessarily  believe  in  a  "  personal 
union." 

At  this  juncture  Governor  Harry  Vane  unfortu- 
nately gave  to  the  existing  difficulties  a  political 
aspect.  Vane  was  the  son  of  one  of  the  secretaries 
of  state  of  England.  Having  taken  a  religious  turn, 
he  forsook  all  the  honors  and  preferments  of  the 
court  and  obtained  the  consent  of  his  parents  to 
visit  Massachusetts.  Almost  immediately  after  his 
arrival,  he  was  elected,  in  May,  1636,  when  only 
twenty-four  years  of  age,  governor  of  the  colony, 
with  John  Winthrop  as  deputy  governor.  After 
the  quarrel  in  regard  to  the  election  of  Wheelwright, 
Vane,  who  had  become  tired  of  the  distractions  in 

VOL.   IV.— 16 


222  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1636 

the  colony,  convened  the  general  court,  December 
10,  1636,  to  tender  his  resignation  upon  the  half- 
reason  that  his  private  affairs  required  his  presence 
in  England. 

Next  day  one  of  the  assistants  very  feelingly  re- 
gretted the  coming  loss,  especially  in  view  of  threat- 
ened attacks  from  the  French  and  Indians.  The 
remarks  took  Vane  off  his  guard.  Carried  away  by 
his  feelings,  he  burst  into  tears  and  protested  that, 
though  his  outward  estate  was  really  in  peril,  yet  he 
would  not  have  thought  of  deserting  them  at  this 
crisis  had  he  not  felt  the  inevitable  danger  of  God's 
judgments  upon  them  for  their  dissensions.  There- 
upon the  court,  of  which  a  majority  were  his  oppo- 
nents, declined  to  allow  his  departure  on  the  grounds 
assigned.  Vane  saw  his  mistake  and  reverted  to  his 
private  estate.  The  court  then  consented  to  his 
departure,  and  a  court  of  elections  was  called  for 
December  15  to  supply  the  vacancy  caused  by  his 
resignation.  . 

Before  this  time  arrived  the  religious  drama  took 
a  new  turn.  The  friends  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson  knew 
the  value  of  having  the  head  of  the  government  with 
them,  and  would  not  dismiss  Vane  from  the  church, 
whereupon  he  withdrew  his  resignation  altogether. 
Till  the  next  election  in  May  the  colony  was  more 
divided  than  ever.  Mr.  Wheelwright  was  appointed 
to  take  charge  of  a  church  at  Mount  Wollaston,  but 
his  forced  withdrawal  from  Boston  was  a  source  of 
irritation  to  his  numerous  friends.  Mrs.  Hutchin- 


1637]        RELIGION   AND   GOVERNMENT          223 

son  remained  and  was  the  storm-centre,  while  Vane, 
who  now  sought  a  re-election,  was  freely  accused  of 
subterfuge  and  deception. 

A  day  or  two  after  December  15  the  ministers 
and  the  court  held  a  meeting  at  which  very  hot  words 
passed  between  Governor  Vane  and  Rev.  Hugh  Peter. 
Wilson,  the  pastor  of  Boston,  also  indulged  in  caustic 
criticisms  directed  at  Governor  Vane  and  the  other 
friends  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson.  By  this  speech  Wilson 
gave  great  offence  to  his  congregation,  who  would 
have  laid  a  formal  church  censure  upon  him  had  not 
Cotton  interfered  and  in  lieu  of  it  gave  his  fellow- 
preacher  a  good  scolding,  under  the  guise  of  what 
Winthrop  calls  "  a  grave  exhortation." 

The  clergy  were  very  anxious  to  win  over  Mr. 
Cotton,  and  about  a  week  later  held  a  meeting  at 
Boston  and  solemnly  catechised  Cotton  on  many  ab- 
struse points.  The  storm  of  theological  rancor  was 
at  its  height.  Harsh  words  were  hurled  about,  and 
by  some  orthodox  ministers  Mrs.  Hutchinson  and  her 
friends  were  denounced  as  Familists,  Antinomians, 
etc.,  after  certain  early  sects  who  cherished  the  doc- 
trines of  private  inspiration  and  had  committed 
many  strange  offences.  On  the  other  hand,  some 
of  Mrs.  Hutchinson 's  friends  scornfully  referred  to 
the  orthodox  party  as  legalists  and  antichrists, 
''who  walked  in  a  covenant  of  works." 

Harsh  words  are  only  one  step  removed  from 
harsh  measures.  The  legalists  were  in  a  majority 
in  the  general  court,  and  they  resolved  to  retaliate 


224  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1637 

for  the  treatment  Mr.  Wilson  had  received  at  the 
hands  of  his  congregation.1  At  the  general  court 
which  convened  March  9,  1637,  Wilson's  sermon 
was  approved  and  Wheelwright  was  summoned 
to  answer  for  alleged  "seditious  and  treasonable 
words"  that  were  used  by  him  in  a  sermon 
preached  in  Boston  on  a  recent  fast  day.  This 
action  brought  forth  a  petition  from  the  church  of 
Boston  in  Wheelwright's  behalf,  which  the  court  de- 
clared "presumptious"  and  rejected.  Wheelwright 
himself  was  pronounced  guilty,  and  thereupon  a 
protest  was  offered  by  Vane,  and  a  second  petition 
came  from  Boston,  which,  like  the  first,  went  un- 
heeded, and  only  served  at  a  later  day  to  involve 
those  who  signed  it. 

Amid  great  excitement  the  legalists  carried  a 
resolution  to  hold  the  May  election  at  Newtown 
(Cambridge)  instead  of  Boston,  a  partisan  move,  for 
Newtown  was  more  subject  to  their  influence  than 
Boston.  At  this  court  in  May  the  turbulence  was 
so  great  that  the  parties  came  near  to  blows.  Threats 
resounded  on  all  sides,  and  Wilson  was  so  carried 
away  with  excitement  that  he  climbed  a  tree  to 
harangue  the  multitude.  The  Vane  forces  strug- 
gled hard,  but  were  badly  defeated,  and  Winthrop 
was  restored  to  his  former  office  as  governor,  while 
the  stern  Thomas  Dudley  was  made  deputy  gov- 
ernor. Vane  and  his  assistants,  Coddington  and 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  240-255;  Mass.  Col.  Records, 
I.,  185. 


1637]        RELIGION   AND   GOVERNMENT          225 

Dummer,  were  defeated  and  " quite  left  out,"  even 
from  the  magistracy.1 

Secure  in  the  possession  of  power,  the  legalists 
now  proceeded  to  suppress  the  opposing  party  alto- 
gether. An  order  was  passed  commanding  that  no 
one  should  harbor  any  new  arrival  for  more  than 
three  weeks  without  leave  of  the  magistrates.  This 
was  to  prevent  any  dangerous  irruption  of  sym- 
pathizers with  Mrs.  Hutchinson  from  England,  and 
it  was  applied  against  a  brother  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson 
and  some  others  of  her  friends  who  arrived  not  long 
after. 

August  3,  1637,  Vane  sailed  for  England,  and 
thenceforward  the  Hutchinson  faction,  abandoned 
by  their  great  leader,  made  little  resistance.  In 
the  latter  part  of  the  same  month  (August  30)  a 
great  synod  of  the  ministers  was  held  at  Newtown, 
which  was  the  first  thing  of  the  sort  attempted  in 
America,  and  included  all  the  teaching  elders  of  the 
colony  and  some  new-comers  from  England.  This 
body  set  to  work  to  lay  hold  of  the  heresies  which 
infected  the  atmosphere  of  the  colony,  and  formu- 
lated about  " eighty  opinions,"  some  "blasphe- 
mous," but  others  merely  "erroneous  and  unsafe." 
How  many  of  them  were  really  entertained  by  Mrs. 
Hutchinson' s  followers  and  how  many  were  merely 
inferences  drawn  from  their  teachings  by  their 
opponents  it  is  hard  to  say. 

When    these   heresies   were    all    enumerated   and 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  256—263. 


226  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1637 

compared  with  the  opinions  of  Cotton  and  Wheel- 
wright, only  five  points  of  possible  heterodoxy  on 
their  part  appeared.  Over  these  there  was  a  solemn 
wrangle  for  days,  till  Cotton,  shrinking  from  his 
position,  contrived,  through  abundant  use  of  doubt- 
full  expressions,  to  effect  his  reconciliation  with  the 
dominant  party.  After  a  session  of  twenty  -  four 
days  the  synod  adjourned,  and  Wheelwright,  alone 
of  the  ministers,  was  left  as  the  scapegoat  of  the 
Antinomians,  and  with  him  the  majority  determined 
to  make  short  work.1 

At  the  general  court  which  met  November  2, 
1637,  the  transgressions  of  Wheelwright  through  his 
fast-day  sermon  were  made  the  basis  of  operations. 
For  this  offence  Wheelwright  had  been  judged  guilty 
more  than  nine  months  before,  but  sentence  had 
been  deferred ;  he  was  now  sentenced  to  disfranchise- 
ment  and  banishment.  Many  of  his  friends  at 
Boston,  including  William  Aspinwall  and  John  Cog- 
geshall,  delegates  to  the  general  court,  experienced 
similar  treatment  for  signing  the  petition  presented 
to  the  court  in  March,  1637,  after  the  verdict  against 
Wheelwright.2 

An  order  was  passed  for  disarming  Mrs.  Hutchin- 
son's  followers,  and  finally  the  arch-heretic  herself 
was  sent  for  and  her  examination  lasted  two  days. 
In  the  dialogue  with  Winthrop  which  began  the  pro- 
ceedings, Mrs.  Hutchinson  had  decidedly  the  best 
of  the  controversy ;  and  Winthrop  himself  confesses 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  261-288.  2  Ibid.,  291-296. 


1637]        RELIGION   AND   GOVERNMENT  227 

that "  she  knew  when  to  speak  and  when  to  hold  her 
tongue."  The  evidence  failed  wretchedly  upon  the 
main  charge,  which  was  that  Mrs.  Hutchinson 
alleged  that  all  the  ministers  in  Massachusetts  ex- 
cept Mr.  Cotton  preached  "a  covenant  of  works." 
On  the  contrary,  by  her  own  evidence  and  that  of 
Mr.  Cotton  and  Mr.  Leverett,  it  appeared  that  Mrs. 
Hutchinson  had  said  that  ' '  they  did  not  preach  a 
covenant  of  grace  as  clearly  as  Mr.  Cotton  did," 
which  was  probably  very  true:1 

Her  condemnation  was  a  matter  of  course,  and  at 
the  end  of  two  days  the  court  banished  her  from  the 
colony ;  but  as  it  was  winter  she  was  committed  to 
the  temporary  care  of  Mr.  Joseph  Welde,  of  Rox- 
bury,  brother  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Welde,  who  after- 
wards wrote  a  rancorous  account  of  these  difficulties, 
entitled  A  Short  Story.  While  in  his  house,  Mrs. 
Hutchinson  was  subjected  to  many  exhortations 
by  anxious  elders,  till  her  spirits  sank  under  the 
trial  and  she  made  a  retraction.  Nevertheless,  it 
was  not  as  full  as  her  tormentors  desired,  and  the 
added  penalty  of  dismissal  from  church  was  im- 
posed. After  her  excommunication  her  spirits  re- 
vived, "and  she  gloried  in  her  condemnation  and 
declared  that  it  was  the  greatest  happiness  next  to 
Christ  that  ever  befell  her." 

In  this  affair  Winthrop  acted  as  prosecutor  and 
judge.  Before  the  spring  had  well  set  in  he  sent 
word  to  Mrs.  Hutchinson  to  depart  from  the  colony. 


, 


1  Hutchinson,  L'fassr.chuseUs  Bay,  II.,  423-447. 

<k 

\ 


2 


228  ENGLAND   IN  AMERICA  [1638 

Accordingly,  March  28,  1638,  she  went  by  water  to 
her  farm  at  Mount  Wollaston  (now  Quincy),  intend- 
ing to  join  Mr.  Wheelwright,  who  had  gone  to  Pis- 
cataqua,  in  Maine,  but  she  changed  her  mind  and 
went  by  land  to  the  settlement  of  Roger  Williams 
at  Providence,  and  thence  to  the  island  of  Aquid- 
neck,  where  she  joined  her  husband  and  other 
friends.1 

Such  was  the  so-called  Antinomian  controversy 
in  Massachusetts,  arid  its  ending  had  a  far-reaching 
effect  upon  the  fortunes  of  the  colony.  The  sup- 
pression of  Mrs.  Hutchinson  and  her  friends  pro- 
duced what  Winthrop  and  the  rest  evidently  desired 
— peace — a  long  peace.  For  fifty  years  the  com- 
monwealth was  free  from  any  great  religious  agita- 
tions ;  but  this  condition  of  quietude,  being  purchased 
at  the  price  of  free  speech  and  free  conscience,  dis- 
couraged all  literature  except  of  a  theological  stamp, 
and  confirmed  the  aristocratic  character  of  the  gov- 
ernment. As  one  of  its  mouth-pieces,  Rev.  Samuel 
Stone,  remarked,  New  England  Congregationalism 
continued  till  the  close  of  the  century  "a  speaking 
aristocracy  in  the  face  of  a  silent  democracy."  2 
The  intense  practical  character  of  the  people  saved 
the  colony,  which,  despite  the  theocratic  govern- 
ment, maintained  a  vigorous  life  in  politics,  busi- 
ness, and  domestic  economy. 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  296-312. 

2  Adams,  Massachusetts:  Its  Historian^  and  its  History,  57. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

NARRAGANSETT   AND    CONNECTICUT   SETTLE- 
MENTS 

(1635-1637) 

THE  island  of  Aquidneck,  to  which  Mrs.  Hutch- 
inson  retired,  was  secured  from  Canonicus  and 
Miantonomoh,  the  sachems  of  the  Narragansetts, 
through  the  good  offices  of  Roger  Williams,  by  John 
Clarke,  William  Coddington,  and  other  leaders  of 
her  faction,  a  short  time  preceding  her  banishment, 
after  a  winter  spent  in  Maine,  where  the  climate  proved 
too  cold  for  them.1  The  place  of  settlement  was 
at  the  northeastern  corner  of  the  island,  and  was 
known  first  by  its  Indian  name  of  Pocasset  and 
afterwards  as  Portsmouth.  The  first  settlers,  nine- 
teen in  number,  constituted  themselves  a  body 
politic  and  elected  William  Coddington  as  executive 
magistrate,  with  the  title  of  chief  judge,  and  William 
Aspinwall  as  secretary.2  Other  emigrants  swelled 
the  number,  till  in  1639  a  new  settlement  at  the 
southern  part  of  the  island,  called  Newport,  resulted 
through  the  secession  of  a  part  of  the  settlers  headed 

1  Clarke,    ///  Newes   from   New  England    (Mass.    Hist.    Soc., 
Collections,  4th  series,  II.,  1-113).  2  R.  I.  Col.  Records,  I.,  52. 

229 


230  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1640 

by  Coddington.  For  more  than  a  year  the  two 
settlements  remained  separate,  but  in  March,  1640, 
they  were  formally  united.1  Settlers  flocked  to 
these  parts,  and  in  1644  the  Indian  name  of  Aquid- 
neck  was  changed  to  Rhode  Island.2 

Not  less  flourishing  was  Roger  Williams's  settle- 
ment of  Providence  on  the  main-land.  In  the  sum- 
mer of  1640  Patuxet  was  marked  off  as  a  separate 
township;3  and  in  1643  Samuel  Gorton  and  others, 
fleeing  from  the  wrath  of  Massachusetts,  made  a 
settlement  called  Shawomet,  or  Warwick,  about 
twelve  miles  distant  from  Providence. 

The  tendency  of  these  various  towns  was  to  com- 
bine in  a  commonwealth,  but  on  account  of  their 
separate  origin  the  process  of  union  was  slow.  The 
source  of  most  of  their  trouble  in  their  infancy  was 
the  grasping  policy  of  Massachusetts.  Next  to  her- 
etics in  the  bosom  of  the  commonwealth  heretic 
neighbors  were  especially  abhorrent.  When  in  1640 
the  magistrates  of  Connecticut  and  New  Haven  ad- 
dressed a  joint  letter  to  the  general  court  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  the  citizens  of  Aquidneck  ventured 
to  join  in  it,  Massachusetts  arrogantly  excluded  the 
representation  of  Aquidneck  from  their  reply  as 
"men  not  fit  to  be  capitulated  withal  by  us  either 
for  themselves  or  for  the  people  of  the  isle  where 

1  R.  I.  Col.  Records,  I.,  87,  100,  108. 

3  Ibid.,  127.  In  1614  the  Dutch  navigator  Adrian  Block 
gave  to  the  country  of  Narragansett  Bay  the  name  of  Rhode 
Island — the  Red  Island — because  of  the  red  clay  in  some 
portions  of  its  shores.  8  R.  I.  Col.  Records,  L,  27. 


1643]  NARRAGANSETT   AND   CONNECTICUT    231 

they  inhabit."1  And  neither  in  1644  nor  in  1648 
would  Massachusetts  listen  to  the  appeal  of  the 
Rhode-Islanders  to  be  admitted  into  the  confederacy 
of  the  New  England  colonies.2 

The  desire  of  Massachusetts  appeared  to  be  to 
hold  the  heretics  and  their  new  country  under  a 
kind  of  personal  and  territorial  vassalage,  as  was 
interestingly  shown  in  the  case  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson 
and  Samuel  Gorton.  Despite  her  banishment  and 
excommunication  the  church  at  Boston  seemed  to 
consider  it  a  duty  to  keep  a  paternal  eye  on  Mrs. 
Hutchinson;  and  not  long  after  her  settlement  at 
Portsmouth  sent  an  embassy  to  interview  her  and 
obtain,  if  possible,  a  submission  and  profession  of 
repentance. 

The  bearers  of  this  message  met  with  an  apt 
reception  and  returned  very  much  disconcerted. 
They  found  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  and  declared  that  they 
came  as  messengers  from  the  church  of  Boston,  but 
she  replied  that  she  knew  only  the  church  of 
Christ  and  recognized  no  such  church  as  "  the  church 
of  Boston."  Nevertheless,  she  continued  to  be  an- 
noyed with  messages  from  Boston  till,  in  order  to 
be  quiet  and  out  of  reach,  she  removed  to  a  place 
very  near  Hell  Gate  in  the  Dutch  settlement,  and 
there,  in  1643,  she,  with  most  of  her  family,  perished 
in  an  Indian  attack.3 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  II.,  24;  Mass.  Col.  Records,  I.,  305. 

2  Plymouth  Col.  Records,  IX.,  23,  no. 

3  Sparks,  American  Biographies,  VI.,  333,  352;  Arnold,  Rhode 
Island,  I.,  66,  n. 


232  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1641 

The  authority  of  Massachusetts  over  the  banished 
was  not  confined  to  religious  exhortations.  Samuel 
Gorton,  a  great  friend  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  was  in 
many  respects  one  of  the  most  interesting  charac- 
ters in  early  New  England  history.  This  man  had 
a  most  pertinacious  regard  for  his  private  rights, 
and  at  Plymouth,  Portsmouth,  and  Providence  his 
career  of  trouble  was  very  much  the  same.  But 
he  was  not  an  ordinary  law-breaker,  and  in  Provi- 
dence, in  1641,  Gorton  and  his  friends  refused  to 
submit  to  a  distress  ordained  by  the  magistrates, 
for  the  reason  that  these  magistrates,  having  no 
charter,  had  no  better  authority  to  make  laws  than 
any  private  person.1 

The  next  year,  1642,  thirteen  citizens  of  Provi- 
dence petitioned  Boston  for  assistance  and  protec- 
tion against  him;  and  not  long  after,  four  of  the 
petitioners  submitted  their  persons  and  lands  to 
the  authority  of  Massachusetts.2  Although  to 
accept  this  submission  was  to  step  beyond  their 
bounds  under  the  Massachusetts  charter,  the  au- 
thorities at  Boston,  in  October,  1642,  gave  a  formal 
notice  of  their  intention  to  maintain  the  claim  of 
the  submissionists.3  To  this  notice  Gorton  re- 
plied, November  20,  1642,  in  a  letter  full  of  abstruse 
theology  and  rancorous  invective. 

Nevertheless,  he  and  his  party  left  Patuxet  and 

1  Sparks,  American  Biographies,  V.,  326-340. 

2  Winthrop,  New  England,  II.,  71. 

8  Ibid.,  102;  Mass.  Col.  Records,  II.,  22. 


1643]  NARRAGANSETT   AND   CONNECTICUT    233 

removed  to  Shawomet,  a  tract  beyond  the  limits  of 
Providence,  and  purchased  in  January,  1643,  from 
Miantonomoh,  the  great  sachem  of  the  Narragan- 
setts.1  Gorton's  letter  had  secured  for  him  the 
thorough  hatred  of  the  authorities  in  Massachusetts, 
and  his  removal  by  no  means  ended  their  inter- 
ference. The  right  of  Miantonomoh  to  make  sale  to 
Gorton  was  denied  by  two  local  sachems ;  and  Massa- 
chusetts coming  to  their  support,  Gorton  was  for- 
mally summoned,  in  September,  1643,  to  appear  be- 
fore the  court  of  Boston  to  answer  the  complaint  of 
the  sachems  for  trespass.2  Gorton  and  his  friends 
returned  a  contemptuous  reply,  and  as  he  con- 
tinued to  deny  the  right  of  Massachusetts  to  inter- 
fere, the  Boston  government  prepared  to  send  an 
armed  force  against  him.3 

In  the  mean  time,  a  terrible  fate  overtook  the 
friend  and  ally  of  Gorton,  Miantonomoh,  at  the  hands 
of  his  neighbors  in  the  west,  the  Mohegans,  whose 
chief,  Uncas,  attacked  one  of  Miantonomoh's  sub- 
ordinate chiefs ;  Miantonomoh  accepted  the  war,  was 
defeated,  and  captured  by  Uncas.  Gorton  interfered 
by  letter  to  save  his  friend,  and  Uncas  referred  the 
question  of  Miantonomoh's  fate  to  the  federal  com- 
missioners at  Boston.  The  elders  were  clamorous 
for  the  death  penalty,  but  the  commissioners  ad- 
mitting that  "  there  was  no  sufficient  ground  for  us 

1  Simplicities   Defence   Against  Seven-Headed  Policy   (Forcfc, 
Tracts,  IV.,  No.  vi.),  24. 

2  Mass.  Col.  Records,  II.,  40,  41.  *  Simplicities  Defence. 


234  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1643 

to  put  him  to  death,"  agreed  to  deliver  the  unhappy 
chieftain  to  Uncas,  with  permission  to  kill  him  as 
soon  as  he  came  within  Uncas's  jurisdiction.  Ac- 
cordingly, Miantonomoh  was  slaughtered  by  his  ene- 
my, who  cut  out  a  warm  slice  from  his  shoulder  and 
declared  it  the  sweetest  morsel  he  had  ever  tasted 
and  that  it  gave  strength  to  his  heart.1  Thus  fell 
Miantonomoh,  the  circumstances  of  whose  death  were 
"not  at  all  creditable  to  the  federal  commissioners 
and  their  clerical  advisers."2 

Massachusetts  sent  out  an  armed  force  against  the 
Gortonists,  and  after  some  resistance  the  leaders 
were  captured  and  brought  to  Boston.  Here  Wil- 
son and  other  ministers  urged  the  death  penalty 
upon  the  "blasphemous  heretics."  But  the  civil 
authorities  were  not  prepared  to  go  so  far,  and  in 
October,  1643,  adopted  the  alternative  of  imprison- 
ment. In  March,  1644,  Gorton  and  his  friends  were 
liberated,  but  banished  on  pain  of  death  from  all 
places  claimed  to  be  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Massa- 
chusetts. 

They  departed  to  Shawomet,  but  Governor  Win- 
throp  forbade  them  to  stay  there ;  and  in  April,  1644, 
Gorton  and  his  friends  once  more  sought  refuge  at 
Aquidneck.3  Gorton,  having  contrived  to  reach 
England,  returned  in  May,  1648,  with  an  order 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  II.,  157-162;  Acts  of  the  Federal 
Commissioners,  I.,  10-12. 

3  Fiske,  Beginnings  of  New  England,  171. 

8  Simplicities  Defence  (Force,  Tracts,  IV.,  No.  vi.),  86;  Win- 
throp, New  England,  II.,  165,  188. 


1 644]  NARRAGANSETT   AND   CONNECTICUT    235 

from  the  Parliamentary  commissioners  for  plan- 
tations, directed  to  the  authorities  of  Massa- 
chusetts, Plymouth,  and  Connecticut,  to  permit 
him  and  his  friends  to  reside  in  peace  at  Warwick, 
which  they  were  then  permitted  to  do.1  In  1652 
Gorton  became  president  of  Providence  and 
Warwick.2 

In  December,  1643,  the  agents  of  Massachusetts 
in  England  obtained  from  the  Parliamentary  com- 
missioners for  plantations  a  grant  of  all  the  main- 
land in  Massachusetts  Bay;  and  it  appeared  for  the 
moment  as  if  it  were  all  over  with  the  independence 
of  the  Rhode  Island  towns.  Fortunately,  Williams 
was  in  England  at  the  time,  and  with  indomitable 
energy  he  set  to  work  to  counteract  the  danger. 

In  less  than  three  months  he  persuaded  the  same 
commissioners  to  issue,  March  14,  1644,  a  second 
instrument3  incorporating  the  towns  of  "Provi- 
dence Plantations,  in  the  Narragansett  Bay  in  New 
England,"  and  (in  flat  contradiction  of  the  earlier 
grant  to  Massachusetts)  giving  them  ''the  Tract  of 
Land  in  the  Continent  of  America  called  by  the  name 
of  Narragansett  Bay,  bordering  Northward  and 
Northeast  on  the  patent  of  the  Massachusetts,  East 
and  Southeast  on  Plymouth  Patent,  South  on  the 
Ocean,  and  on  the  West  and  Northwest  by  the 
Indians  called  Nahigganeucks,  alias  Narregansets — 

*  Winthrop,  New  England,  II.,  387-390. 

3  R.  I.  Col.  Records,  I.,  241. 

1  Cal.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  p.  325. 


236  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1644 

the  whole  Tract  extending  about  twenty -five  Eng- 
lish miles  unto  the  Pequot  River  and  Country." 
The  charter  contained  no  mention  of  religion  or 
citizenship,  though  it  gave  the  inhabitants  full 
power  "to  rule  themselves  and  such  others  as  shall 
hereafter  inhabit  within  any  Part  of  the  said  Tract, 
by  such  a  Form  of  Civil  Government,  as  by  volun- 
tary consent  of  all,  or  the  greater  Parte  of  them, 
they  shall  find  most  suitable  to  their  Estate  and 
Condition." 

Williams  returned  to  America  in  September, 
1644.  On  account  of  the  unfriendly  disposition  of 
Massachusetts  he  was  compelled,  when  leaving  for 
England,  to  take  his  departure  from  the  Dutch  port 
of  New  Amsterdam.  Now,  like  one  vindicated  in 
name  and  character,  he  landed  in  Boston,  and,  pro- 
tected by  a  letter1  from  "divers  Lords  and  others 
of  the  Parliament,"  passed  unmolested  through 
Massachusetts,  and  reached  Providence  by  the  same 
route  which,  as  a  homeless  wanderer,  he  had  pur- 
sued eight  years  before.  It  is  said  that  at  Seekonk 
he  was  met  by  fourteen  canoes  filled  with  people, 
who  escorted  him  across  the  water  to  Providence 
with  shouts  of  triumph.2 

Peace  and  union,  however,  did  not  at  once  flow 
from  the  labors  of  Williams.  The  hostility  of  Massa- 
chusetts and  Plymouth  towards  the  Rhode-Islanders 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  II.,  236. 

2  Richard  Scott's  letter,  in   Fox,   New  England  Fire  Bra** 
Quenched,  App. 


i65i]NARRAGANSETT   AND   CONNECTICUT    237 

seemed  at  first  increased;  and  the  principle  of  self- 
government,  to  which  the  Rhode  Island  townships 
owed  their  existence,  delayed  their  confederation. 
At  last,  in  May,  1647,  an  assembly  of  freemen  from 
the  four  towns  of  Portsmouth,  Newport,  Providence, 
and  Warwick  met  at  Portsmouth,  and  proceeded 
to  make  laws  in  the  name  of  the  whole  body  poli- 
tic, incorporated  under  the  charter.  The  first  presi- 
dent was  John  Coggeshall ;  and  Roger  Williams  and 
William  Coddington  were  two  of  the  first  assistants. 

Massachusetts,  aided  by  the  Plymouth  colony,  still 
continued  her  machinations,  and  an  ally  was  found 
in  Rhode  Island  itself  in  the  person  of  William 
Coddington.  In  1650  he  went  to  England  and  ob- 
tained an  order,  dated  April  3,  1651,  for  the  sever- 
ance of  the  island  from  the  main-land  settlements.1 
Fortunately,  however,  for  the  preservation  of  Rhode 
Island  unity,  an  act  of  intemperate  bigotry  on  the 
part  of  Massachusetts  saved  the  state  from  Codding- 
ton's  interference. 

The  sect  called  Anabaptists,  or  Baptists,  opposed 
to  infant  baptism,  made  their  appearance  in  New 
England  soon  after  the  banishment  of  Mrs.  Hutchin- 
son.  Rhode  Island  became  a  stronghold  for  them, 
and  in  1638  Roger  Williams  adopted  their  tenets  and 
was  rebaptized.2  In  1644  a  Baptist  church  was 
established  at  Newport.3  The  same  year  Massa- 


1  Cal.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  p.  354. 

2  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  352. 

3  Palfrey,  New  England,  II.,  346. 

VOL.    IV. — 17 


238  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1650 

chusetts  passed  a  law  decreeing  banishment  of 
all  professors  of  the  new  opinions.1  In  October, 
1650,  three  prominent  Baptists,  John  Clarke,  Oba- 
diah  Holmes,  and  John  Crandall,  visited  Massachu- 
setts, when  they  were  seized,  whipped,  fined,  im- 
prisoned, and  barely  escaped  with  their  lives.2 

The  alarm  created  in  Rhode  Island  by  these  pro- 
ceedings brought  the  towns  once  more  into  a  com- 
mon policy,  and  Clarke  and  Williams  were  sent  to 
England  to  undo  the  work  of  Coddington.  Aided 
by  the  warm  friendship  of  Sir  Harry  Vane,  the  ef- 
forts of  the  agents  were  crowned  with  success.  Cod- 
dington's  commission  was  revoked  by  an  order  of 
council  in  September,  1652,  and  the  townships  were 
directed  to  unite  under  the  charter  of  1644*  Cod- 
dington did  not  at  once  submit,  and  there  was  a 
good  deal  of  dissension  in  the  Rhode  Island  towns 
till  June,  1654,  when  Williams  returned  from  Eng- 
land. Then  Coddington  yielded,4  and,  August  31, 
commissioners  from  the  four  towns  voted  to  re- 
store the  government  constituted  seven  years  be- 
fore. The  consolidation  of  Rhode  Island  was  per- 
fected when,  in  1658,  Massachusetts  released  her 
claims  to  jurisdiction  there.5 

Liberty  of  conscience  as  asserted  by  Roger  Will- 
iams did  not  involve  the  abrogation  of  civil  restraint, 

1  Mass.  Col.  Records,  II.,  85. 

2  Clarke,  ///  Newes  from  New  England  (Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  Col- 
lections, 4th  series,  II.,  1—113). 

3  Backus,  New  England,  I.,  277.          4  R.  I.  Col.  Records,  I.,  328. 
5  Mass.  Col.  Records,  IV.,  pt.  i.,  333. 


1658]  NARRAGANSETT   AND   CONNECTICUT    239 

and  when  one  William  Harris  disturbed  the  peace 
in  1656,  by  asserting  this  doctrine  in  a  pamphlet,1 
Williams,  then  governor,  had  a  warrant  issued 
for  his  apprehension.  When,  in  1658,  Williams  re- 
tired to  private  life  the  possibility  of  founding  a 
state  in  which  "religious  freedom  and  civil  order 
could  stand  together"  was  fully  proved  to  the 
world.2 

Besides  the  Indian  power,  as  many  as  six  in- 
dependent jurisdictions  existed  originally  in  the 
present  state  of  Connecticut,  (i)  The  Dutch  fort 
of  "Good  Hope,"  established  in  1633,  on  the  Con- 
necticut River,  had  jurisdiction  over  a  small  area 
of  country.  (2)  The  Plymouth  colony  owned  some 
territory  on  the  Connecticut  River  and  built  a  fort 
there  soon  after  the  Dutch  came.  (3)  Next  was  the 
jurisdiction  of  Fort  Saybrook,  the  sole  evidence  of 
possession  on  the  part  of  the  holders  of  a  patent 
from  the  earl  of  Warwick,  president  of  the  Council 
for  New  England,  who  claimed  to  own  the  whole  of 
Connecticut.  (4)  A  much  larger  jurisdiction  was 
that  of  the  Connecticut  River  towns,  settled  in 
1635-1636,  contemporaneously  with  the  banish- 
ment of  Roger  Williams.  (5)  New  Haven  was  set- 
tled in  1638,  in  the  height  of  the  Antinomian  diffi- 
culties. (6)  A  claim  was  advanced  by  the  marquis  of 
Hamilton  for  a  tract  of  land  running  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Connecticut  River  to  Narragansett  Bay,  as- 

1  R.  I.  Col.  Records,  I.,  364. 

3  Doyle,  English  Colonies,  II.,  319. 


240  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1620 

signed  to  him  in  the  division  of  1635,  but  it  did  not 
become  a  disturbing  factor  till  1665. 

The  early  relations  between  the  Dutch  and  Eng- 
lish colonies  were,  as  we  have  seen,  characterized 
by  kindness  and  good-fellowship.  The  Dutch  ad- 
vised the  Plymouth  settlers  to  remove  from  their 
"  present  barren  quarters,"  and  commended  to  them 
the  valley  of  the  "Fresh  River"  (Connecticut),  re- 
ferring to  it  as  a  fine  place  both  for  plantation  and 
trade.1  Afterwards,  some  Mohegan  Indians  vis- 
iting Plymouth  in  1631  made  similar  representa- 
tions. Their  chief,  Uncas,  an  able,  unscrupulous, 
and  ambitious  savage,  made  it  his  great  ambition  to 
attain  the  headship  of  his  aggressive  western  neigh- 
bors, the  Pequots.  The  only  result  had  been  to 
turn  the  resentment  of  the  Pequots  against  him- 
self; and  he  sought  the  protection  of  the  Plymouth 
government  by  encouraging  them  to  plant  a  settle- 
ment on  the  Connecticut  in  his  own  neighborhood.2 

These  persuasions  had  at  length  some  effect,  and 
in  1632  Edward  Winslow,  being  sent  in  a  bark  to 
examine  the  river,  reported  the  country  as  conform- 
ing in  every  respect  to  the  account  given  of  it  by  the 
Dutch  and  the  Indians.3  Meanwhile,  the  Indians, 
not  liking  the  delay,  visited  Boston  and  tried  to  in- 
duce the  authorities  there  to  send  out  a  colony,  but, 
though  Governor  Winthrop  received  them  politely, 

1  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  370,  371. 

2  Trumbull,  Connecticut,  I.,  41. 

8  Ibid.,  31;  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  371. 


1633]  NARRAGANSETT   AND   CONNECTICUT    241 

he  dismissed  them  without  the  hoped-for  assist- 
ance.1 

In  July,  1633,  Bradford  and  Winslow  made  a 
special  visit  to  Boston  to  discuss  the  plan  of  a  joint 
trading-post,  but  they  did  not  receive  much  en- 
couragement. Winthrop  and  his  council  suggested 
various  objections:  the  impediments  to  commerce 
due  to  the  sand-bar  at  the  mouth;  the  long  con- 
tinuance of  ice  in  spring,  and  the  multitude  of  Ind- 
ians in  the  neighborhood.  But  it  seems  likely  that 
these  allegations  were  pretexts,  since  we  read  in 
Winthrop's  Journal  that  in  September,  1633,  a  bark 
was  sent  from  Boston  to  Connecticut;  and  John 
Oldham,  with  three  others,  set  out  from  Water- 
town  overland  to  explore  the  river.2 

Plymouth  determined  to  wait  no  longer,  and  in 
October,  1633,  sent  a.  vessel,  commanded  by  William 
Holmes,  with  workmen  and  the  frame  of  a  building 
for  a  trading-post.  When  they  arrived  in  the  river, 
they  were  surprised  to  find  other  Europeans  in  pos- 
session. The  Dutch,  aroused  from  their  dream  of 
security  by  the  growth  of  the  English  settlement, 
made  haste  in  the  June  previous  to  purchase  from 
the  Indians  twenty  acres  where  Hartford  now 
stands,  upon  which  they  built  a  fort  a  short  time 
after.  When  the  vessel  bearing  the  Plymouth 
traders  reached  this  point  in  the  river,  the  Dutch 
commander,  John  van  Curler,  commanded  Holmes  to 
stop  and  strike  his  flag.  But  Holmes,  paying  little 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  62.  *  Ibid.,  132,  162. 


242  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1633 

attention  to  the  threats  of  the  Dutchman,  continued 
his  voyage  and  established  a  rival  post  ten  miles 
above,  at  a  place  now  known  as  Windsor.1 

Meanwhile,  the  ship  which  Winthrop  sent  to  Con- 
necticut went  onward  to  New  Netherland,  where 
the  captain  notified  Governor  Van  Twiller,  in  Win- 
throp's  name,  that  the  English  had  a  royal  grant  to 
the  territory  about  the  Connecticut  River.  It  re- 
turned to  Boston  in  October,  1633,  and  brought  a 
reply  from  Van  Twiller  that  the  Dutch  had  also  a 
claim  under  a  grant  from  their  States-General  of 
Holland.2  In  December,  1633,  Van  Twiller  heard 
of  Holmes' s  trading-post  and  despatched  an  armed 
force  of  seventy  men  to  expel  the  intruders.  They 
appeared  before  the  fort  with  colors  flying,  but  find- 
ing that  Holmes  had  received  reinforcements,  and 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  dislodge  him  without 
bloodshed,  they  returned  home  without  molesting 
him.3 

The  Plymouth  settlers  were  destined  to  be  dis- 
possessed, not  by  the  Dutch,  but  by  their  own  coun- 
trymen. The  people  of  Massachusetts  were  now 
fully  aroused,  and  the  news  that  came  to  Boston 
in  the  summer  of  1634  that  the  small-pox  had  prac- 
tically destroyed  the  Indians  on  the  river  increased 
"the  hankering"  after  the  coveted  territory.4  The 
people  of  Watertown,  Dorchester,  and  Newtown 

1  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  373;  Brodhead,  New  York, 
I.,  241.  2  Winthrop,  New  England,!.,  133. 

3  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  373;  Brodhead,  New  York, 
I.,  242.  *  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  388,  402. 


1634]  NARRAGANSETT   AND   CONNECTICUT    243 

(Cambridge)  had  long  been  restless  under  the  Massa- 
chusetts authority,  and  were  anxious  for  a  change. 
Dorchester  was  the  residence  of  Captain  Israel 
Stoughton,  and  Watertown  the  residence  of  Richard 
Brown  and  John  Oldham,  all  three  of  whom  had 
been  under  the  ban  of  the  orthodox  Puritan  church. 
At  Watertown  also  had  sprung  up  the  first  decided 
opposition  to  the  aristocratic  claim  of  the  court  of 
assistants  to  lay  taxes  on  the  people.  As  for  New- 
town  (now  Cambridge),  its  inhabitants  could  not 
forget  that,  though  selected  in  the  first  instance  as 
the  capital  of  the  colony,  it  had  afterwards  been 
discarded  for  the  town  of  Boston. 

In  all  three  towns  there  was  a  pressure  for  arable 
lands  and  more  or  less  jealousy  among  the  ministers. 
Some  dissatisfaction  also  with  the  requirement  in 
Massachusetts  of  church-membership  for  the  suffrage 
may  have  been  among  the  motives  for  seeking  a  new 
home.  At  the  head  of  the  movement  was  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Hooker,  a  graduate  of  Emmanuel  College, 
Cambridge,  who  had  lived  in  Holland,  and  while 
there  had  imbibed  a  greater  share  of  liberality  than 
was  to  be  found  among  most  of  the  clergy  of  Massa- 
chusetts. Cotton  declared  that  democracy  was 
"no  fit  government  either  for  church  or  common- 
wealth," and  the  majority  of  the  ministers  agreed 
with  him.  Winthrop  defended  his  view  in  a  letter 
to  Hooker  on  the  ground  that  "  the  best  part  is  al- 
ways the  least,  and  of  that  best  part  the  wiser  part 
is  always  the  lesser."  But  Hooker  replied  that  "in 


244  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1634 

matters  which  concern  the  common  good  a  general 
council,  chosen  by  all,  to  transact  business  which 
concerns  all,  I  conceive  most  suitable  to  rule  and 
most  safe  for  the  relief  of  the  whole." 

Hooker  arrived  in  the  colony  in  September, 
1633,*  and  in  May,  1634,  at  the  first  annual  gen- 
eral court  after  his  arrival,  his  congregation  at  New- 
town  petitioned  to  be  permitted  to  move  to  some 
other  quarters  within  the  bounds  of  Massachusetts.2 
The  application  was  granted,  and  messengers  were 
sent  to  Agawam  and  Merrimac  to  look  for  a  suitable 
location.3  After  this,  when  the  epidemic  on  the 
Connecticut  became  known,  a  petition  to  be  per- 
mitted to  move  out  of  the  Massachusetts  jurisdic- 
tion was  presented  to  the  general  court  in  Septem- 
ber, 1634.  This  raised  a  serious  debate,  and  though 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  Winthrop  and  the 
other  leaders  in  Massachusetts  shrewdly  cherished 
the  idea  of  pre-empting  in  some  way  the  trade  of 
the  Connecticut,  against  both  the  Plymouth  people 
and  the  Dutch,  an  emigration  such  as  was  proposed 
appeared  too  much  like  a  desertion.  The  fear  of 
the  appointment  by  the  crown  of  a  governor-general 
for  New  England  was  at  its  height,  and  so  the  ap- 
plication, though  it  met  with  favor  from  the  ma- 
jority of  the  deputies,  was  rejected  by  the  court  of 
assistants.4 


1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  129. 

2  Mass.  Col.  Records,  I.,  119. 

3  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  159.  *  Ibid.,  167. 


1635]  NARRAGANSETT   AND   CONNECTICUT    245 

The  popularity  of  the  measure,  however,  increased 
mightily,  and  there  is  a  tradition  that  in  the  winter 
of  1634-1635  some  persons  from  Watertown  went 
to  Connecticut  and  managed  to  survive  the  winter 
in  a  few  huts  erected  at  Pyquag,  afterwards  Wethers- 
field.1  The  next  spring  the  Watertown  and  Dor- 
chester people  imitated  the  Newtown  congregation 
in  applying  to  the  general  court  for  permission 
to  remove.  They  were  more  successful,  and  were 
given  liberty  to  go  to  any  place,  even  outside  of 
Massachusetts,  provided  they  continued  under  the 
Massachusetts  authority.2 

Then  began  a  lively  movement,  and  Jonathan 
Brewster,  in  a  letter  written  from  the  Plymouth  fort 
at  Windsor  in  July,  1635,  tells  of  the  daily  arrival 
by  land  and  water  of  small  parties  of  these  ad- 
venturous settlers.  Their  presence  around  the  fort 
caused  Brewster  much  uneasiness,  since  some  began 
to  cast  covetous  eyes  upon  the  very  spot  which  the 
Plymouth  government  had  bought  from  the  Mohe- 
gans  and  held  against  the  Dutch. 

As  their  numbers  grew  their  confidence  increased ; 
and  finally  the  men  of  Dorchester,  headed  by  Roger 
Ludlow,  one  of  the  richest  men  in  Massachusetts, 
pretending  that  the  land  was  theirs  as  the  "  Lord's 
waste,"  upon  which  "the  providence  of  God"  had 
cast  them,  intruded  themselves  into  the  actual  midst 
of  the  Plymouth  people.  The  emigrants  from 

1  Tmmbull,  Connecticut,  I.,  59. 

2  Mass.  Col.  Records,  I.,  146, 


246  ENGLAND   IN  AMERICA  [1635 

Plymouth  protested,  but  were  finally  glad  to  accept 
a  compromise,  though,  as  Bradford  remarks,  "the 
unkindness  was  not  soon  forgotten."  The  Massa- 
chusetts settlers  held  on  to  fifteen-sixteenths  of  the 
land,  while  they  magnanimously  conceded  to  the 
Plymouth  people  one-sixteenth,  in  addition  to  their 
block-houses.1 

The  emigration  in  the  summer  of  1635  was  pre- 
liminary to  a  much  larger  exodus  in  the  fall.  In 
October  a  company  of  about  sixty  men,  women,  and 
children,  driving  before  them  their  cows,  horses,  and 
swine,  set  out  by  land  and  reached  the  Connecticut 
"after  a  tedious  and  difficult  journey";2  but  the 
winter  set  in  very  early,  and  the  vessels  which  were 
to  bring  their  provisions  by  water  not  appearing, 
they  were  forced  to  leave  their  settlement  for  fear  of 
famine.  They  were  fortunate  to  find  a  ship  frozen 
up  in  the  river,  which  they  freed  from  the  ice  and 
used  to  return  to  Boston.  The  other  settlers  who 
remained  upon  the  river  suffered  very  much,  and 
were  finally  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  eating 
acorns  and  ground-nuts,  which  they  dug  out  of  the 
snow.  A  great  number  of  the  cattle  perished, 
and  the  Dorchester  Company  "lost  near  £2000 
worth."  3 

These  calamities  were  soon  forgotten ;  and  as  soon 
as  the  first  flowers  of  spring  suggested  the  end  of  the 
dreary  winter  season,  the  Newtown  people  prepared 

1  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  402-406. 

2  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  204.  *  Ibid.,  208,  219. 


1637]  NARRAGANSETT  AND   CONNECTICUT    247 

to  move.  Selling  their  lands  on  the  Charles  River 
to  the  congregation  of  Rev.  Thomas  Shepard,  the 
whole  body,  in  June,  1636,  emigrated  through  the 
green  woods,  musical  with  birds  and  bright  with 
flowers,  under  the  leadership  of  their  two  eminent 
ministers,  Thomas  Hooker  and  Samuel  Stone.1 
Among  the  lay  members  of  the  community  were 
Stephen  Hart,  Thomas  Bull,  and  Richard  Lord.2 
A  little  later  the  churches  of  Dorchester  and 
Watertown  completed  their  removal,  while  a  settle- 
ment was  made  by  emigrants  from  Roxbury  under 
William  Pynchon  at  Agawam,  afterwards  Spring- 
field, just  north  of  the  boundary  between  Massachu- 
setts and  Connecticut.3 

At  the  beginning  of  the  winter  of  1636-1637  about 
eight  hundred  people  were  established  in  three  town- 
ships below  Springfield.  These  townships  were  first 
called  after  the  towns  from  which  their  inhabitants 
removed  —  Newtown,  Watertown,  and  Dorchester; 
but  in  February,  1637,  their  names  were  changed  to 
Hartford,  Wethersfield,  and  Windsor.  The  settle- 
ments well  illustrate  the  general  type  of  New  Eng- 
land colonization.  The  emigration  from  Massachu- 
setts was  not  of  individuals,  but  of  organized  com- 
munities united  in  allegiance  to  a  church  and  its 
pastor.  Carrying  provisions  and  supplies,  erecting 
new  villages,  as  communities  they  came  from  Eng- 


1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  223. 

2  Trumbull,  Memorial  History  of  Hartford  County, 
8  Palfrey,  New  England,  I.,  454. 


248  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1631 

land  to  Massachusetts,  and  in  that  character  the 
people  emigrated  to  Connecticut. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  silence  of  the  Connecticut 
woods  was  broken  by  other  visitors.  The  lands  oc- 
cupied by  the  Massachusetts  settlers  upon  the  Con- 
necticut lay  within  a  grant  executed  March  19,  1631, 
by  the  earl  of  Warwick,  as  president  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  New  England  for  "all  that  part  of  New  Eng- 
land in  America  which  lies  and  extends  itself  from 
a  river  there  called  Narragansett  River,  the  space 
of  forty  leagues  upon  a  straight  line  near  the  sea- 
shore towards  the  southwest,  west,  and  by  south, 
or  west,  as  the  coast  lieth  towards  Virginia,  account- 
ing three  English  miles  to  the  league;  and  also  all 
and  singular  the  lands  and  hereditaments  whatsoever, 
lying  and  being  within  the  lands  aforesaid,  north  and 
south  in  latitude  and  breadth,  and  in  length  and  longi- 
tude of  and  within,  all  the  breadth  aforesaid,  through- 
out the  main-lands  there,  from  the  western  ocean  to 
the  south  sea."  The  grantees  included  Lord  Say  and 
Sele,  Lord  Brooke,  and  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall.1 

Probably  some  report  of  the  unauthorized  colonies 
reached  them  and  hastened  Saltonstall  to  send  out 
a  party  of  twenty  men  in  July,  1635,  to  plant  a 
settlement  on  the  Connecticut.  But  the  Dorchester 
settlers  treated  them  with  even  less  consideration 
than  they  had  the  Plymouth  men.  They  set  upon 
them  and  drove  them  out  of  the  river.2  Then,  in 

1  Trumbull,  Connecticut,  I.,  495. 

2  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  4th  series,  VI.,  579. 


1636]  NARRAGANSETT   AND   CONNECTICUT    249 

October,  1635,  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  the  eldest  son 
of  John  Winthrop  of  Massachusetts,  came  from 
England  with  a  commission  to  be  governor  of  the 
"river  Connecticut  in  New  England"  for  the  space 
of  one  year.1 

He  was,  however,  a  governor  in  theory,  and  made 
but  one  substantial  contribution  to  the  permanent 
possession  of  Connecticut  by  the  English.  In  No- 
vember, 1635,  he  erected  at  the  mouth  of  the  river 
a  fort  called  after  Lord  Say  and  Sele  and  Lord 
Brooke — Saybrook — which  in  the  spring  of  1636  he 
placed  under  the  command  of  Lyon  Gardiner,  an 
expert  military  engineer,  who  had  seen  much  ser- 
vice in  the  Netherlands.2  Hardly  had  the  English 
mounted  two  cannon  on  their  slight  fortification 
when  a  Dutch  vessel  sent  from  New  Amsterdam 
on  a  sudden  errand  arrived  in  the  river.  Finding 
themselves  anticipated,  the  Dutch  returned  home, 
and  the  scheme  of  cutting  off  the  English  settle- 
ments on  the  upper  Connecticut  from  the  rest  of 
New  England  was  frustrated.3 

For  a  year  the  towns  on  the  Connecticut,  includ- 
ing Springfield,  were  governed  by  a  commission 
issued  by  the  general  court  of  Massachusetts,  in 
concert  with  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  as  a  representative 
of  the  patentees.4  When  the  year  expired  the 


1  Trumbull,  Connecticut,  I.,  497. 

2  Winthrop,  New  England,  L,  207. 
8  Brodhead,  New  York,  I.,  260. 

4  Mass,  Col.  Records,  I,,  170, 


250  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1637 

commission  was  not  renewed,  but  a  general  cotirt 
representing  the  three  towns  of  Massachusetts  and 
consisting  of  six  assistants  and  nine  delegates,  three 
for  each  town,  was  held  at  Hartford  in  May,  1637. 
They  became  from  this  time  a  self-governing  com- 
munity under  the  name  of  Connecticut,  and  the 
union  happened  just  in  time  to  be  of  much  service 
in  repelling  a  great  danger. 


CHAPTER  XV 

FOUNDING  OF  CONNECTICUT  AND  NEW  HAVEN 
(1637-1652) 

THE  establishment  of  the  new  settlements  on 
the  Connecticut  projected  the  whites  into  the 
immediate  neighborhood  of  two  powerful  and  war- 
like Indian  nations — the  Narragansetts  in  Rhode 
Island  and  the  Pequots  in  Connecticut.  With  the 
first  named  there  existed  friendly  relations,  due  to 
the  politic  conduct  of  Roger  Williams,  who  always 
treated  the  Indians  kindly.  With  the  latter,  con- 
ditions from  the  first  were  very  threatening. 

As  early  as  the  summer  of  1633,  Stone,  a  reckless 
ship-captain  from  Virginia,  and  eight  of  his  com- 
panions, were  slain  in  the  Connecticut  River  by 
some  Pequots.  When  called  to  account  by  Gov- 
ernor Winthrop  of  Massachusetts,  the  Indians  justi- 
fied themselves  on  the  ground  that  Stone  was  the 
aggressor.  Thereupon  Winthrop  desisted,  and  re- 
ferred the  matter  to  the  Virginia  authorities.1  In 
1634,  when  the  settlements  were  forming  on  the 
Connecticut,  a  fresh  irritation  was  caused  by  the 
course  of  the  emigrants  in  negotiating  for  their 

1  Winthrop,  New  England ,  I.,  146. 
251 


252  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1634 

lands  with  the  Mohegan  chiefs  instead  of  with  the 
Pequots,  the  lords  paramount  of  the  soil. 

The  Pequots  were  greatly  embarrassed  at  the 
time  by  threatened  hostilities  with  the  Narragan- 
setts  and  the  Dutch,  and  in  November,  1634,  they 
became  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  seeking  the  alli- 
ance of  the  Massachusetts  colony.  That  author- 
ity inopportunely  revived  the  question  of  Stone's 
death  and  required  the  Pequots  to  deliver  annually 
a  heavy  tribute  of  wampum  as  the  price  of  their  for- 
giveness and  protection.1  Had  the  object  of  the 
Massachusetts  people  been  to  promote  bad  feeling, 
no  better  method  than  this  could  have  been  adopted. 

In  July,  1636,  John  Oldham,  who  had  been  ap- 
pointed collector  of  the  tribute  from  the  Pequots, 
was  killed  off  Block  Island  by  some  of  the  Indians 
of  the  island  who  were  subject  to  the  Narragansett 
tribe.2  Although  the  Pequots  had  nothing  what- 
ever to  do  with  this  affair,  the  Massachusetts  gov- 
ernment, under  Harry  Vane,  sent  a  force  against 
them,  commanded  by  John  Endicott.  After  stop- 
ping at  Block  Island  and  destroying  some  Indian 
houses,  he  proceeded  to  the'^main-land  to  make  war 
on  the  Pequots,  but  beyond  burning  some  wig- 
wams and  seizing  some  corn  he  accomplished  very 
little. 

The  action  of  Massachusetts  was  heartily  con- 


1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,   176,  177. 

2  Ibid.,    225,    226;    Gardiner,    Pequot    Warres    (Mass.    Hist. 
Soc.,  Collections,  3d  series,  III.),  131-160. 


1636]     CONNECTICUT   AND   NEW   HAVEN        253 

demned  by  the  Plymouth  colony  and  the  settlers  on 
the  Connecticut,  and  Gardiner,  the  commander  of 
the  Saybrook  fort,  bluntly  told  Endicott  that  the 
proceedings  were  outrageous  and  would  serve  only 
to  bring  the  Indians  "like  wasps  about  his  ears." 
His  prediction  came  true,  and  during  the  winter 
Gardiner  and  his  few  men  at  the  mouth  of  the  river 
were  repeatedly  assailed  by  parties  of  Indians,  who 
boasted  that  "  Englishmen  were  as  easy  to  kill  as 
mosquitoes."  1 

Danger  was  now  imminent,  especially  to  the  in- 
fant settlements  up  the  river.  For  the  moment  it 
seemed  as  if  the  English  had  brought  upon  them- 
selves the  united  power  of  all  the  Indians  of  the 
country.  The  Pequots  sent  messengers  to  patch 
up  peace  with  their  enemies,  the  Narragansetts,  and 
tried  to  induce  them  to  take  up  arms  against  the 
English.  They  would  have  probably  succeeded 
but  for  the  influence  of  Roger  Williams  with  the 
Narragansett  chiefs.  In  this  crisis  the  friendship  of 
Governor  Vane  for  the  banished  champion  of  re- 
ligious liberty  was  used  to  good  effect.  To  gratify 
the  governor  and  his  council  at  Boston,  Williams, 
at  the  risk  of  his  life,  sought  the  wigwams  of  Ca- 
nonicus  and  Miantonomoh,  and  "broke  to  pieces  the 
Pequot  negotiations  and  design."  2  Instead  of  ac- 
cepting the  overtures  of  the  Pequots,  the  Narra- 

1  Gardiner,  Pequot  Warres;  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  231- 
233.  238,  259. 

2  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  ist  series,  I.,  175. 

VOL.    IV. — 18 


254  ENGLAND   IN  AMERICA  [1637 

gansetts  sent  Miantonomoh  and  the  two  sons  of 
Canonicus  to  Boston  to  make  an  alliance  with  the 
whites.1 

In  the  spring  of  1637  the  war  burst  with  fury. 
Wethersfield  was  first  attacked  at  the  instance  of  an 
Indian  who  had  sold  his  lands  and  could  not  obtain 
the  promised  payment.  In  revenge  he  secretly  in- 
stigated the  Pequots  to  attack  the  place,  and  they 
killed  a  woman,  a  child,  and  some  men,  besides  some 
cattle;  and  took  captive  two  young  women,  who 
were  preserved  by  the  squaw  of  Mononotto,  a  Pequot 
sachem,  and,  through  the  Dutch,  finally  restored  to 
their  friends.2 

By  May,  1637,  when  the  first  general  court  of 
Connecticut  convened  at  Hartford,  upward  of 
thirty  persons  had  fallen  beneath  the  tomahawk. 
The  promptest  measures  were  necessary;  and  with- 
out waiting  for  the  assistance  of  Massachusetts,  whose 
indiscretion  had  brought  on  the  war,  ninety  men 
(nearly  half  the  effective  force  of  the  colony)  were 
raised,3  and  placed  under  the  command  of  Captain 
John  Mason,  an  officer  who  had  served  in  the  Nether- 
lands under  Sir  Thomas  Fairfax.  The  force  sailed 
down  the  river  in  three  small  vessels,  and  were  wel- 
comed at  Fort  Saybrook  by  Lieutenant  Gardiner. 

The  Indian  fort  was  situated  in  a  swamp  to  the 
east  of  the  Connecticut  on  the  Mystic  River ;  but  in- 


1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  234-236. 

2  Ibid.,  267,  312;  Mason,  Pequot  War  (Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collec- 
tions, 2d  series,  VIII.),  132.  *  Conn.  Col.  Records,  I.,  9. 


1637]     CONNECTICUT  AND   NEW   HAVEN       255 

stead  of  landing  at  the  Pequot  River,  as  he  had  been 
ordered,  Mason  completely  deceived  the  Indian 
spies  by  sailing  past  it  away  from  the  intended 
prey.  Near  Point  Judith,  however,  in  the  Narra- 
gansett  country,  Mason  disembarked  his  men; 
and,  accompanied  by  eighty  Mohegans  and  two 
hundred  Narragansetts,  turned  on  his  path  and 
marched  by  land  westward  towards  the  Pequot 
country.  So  secretly  and  swiftly  was  this  move- 
ment executed  that  the  Indian  fort  was  surrounded 
and  approached  within  a  few  feet  before  the  Indians 
took  alarm.1 

The  victory  of  Mason  was  a  massacre,  the  most 
complete  in  the  annals  of  colonial  history.  The 
English  threw  firebrands  among  the  wigwams,  and 
in  the  flames  men,  women,  and  children  were  roasted 
to  death.  Captain  Underbill,  who  was  present,  wrote 
that  "there  were  about  four  hundred  souls  in  this 
fort,  and  not  above  five  of  them  escaped  out  of  our 
hands."  Only  two  white  men  were  killed,  though 
a  number  received  arrow  wounds.2 

Mason,  as  he  went  to  the  Pequot  harbor  to  meet 
his  vessels,  met  a  party  of  three  hundred  Indians 
half  frantic  with  grief  over  the  destruction  of  their 
countrymen,  but  contented  himself  with  repelling 
their  attack.  Finally,  he  reached  the  ships,  where 


1  Mason,  Pequot  War  (Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  26.  series, 
VIII.),  134-136- 

3  Ibid.;  Underbill,  Pequot  War  (Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections, 
3d  series,  VI.),  25. 


256  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1637 

he  found  Captain  Patrick  and  forty  men  come  from 
Massachusetts  to  reinforce  him.  Placing  his  sick 
men  on  board  to  be  taken  back  by  water,  Mason 
crossed  the  Pequot  River  and  marched  by  land  to 
Fort  Saybrook,  where  they  were  "nobly  entertained 
by  Lieutenant  Gardiner  with  many  great  guns," 
and  there  they  rested  the  Sabbath.  The  next  week 
they  returned  home.1 

The  remnant  of  the  Pequots  collected  in  another 
fort  to  the  west  of  that  destroyed  by  Mason.  At- 
tacked by  red  men  and  white  men  alike,  most  of 
them  formed  the  desperate  resolve  of  taking  refuge 
with  the  Mohawks  across  the  Hudson.  They  were 
pursued  by  Mason  with  forty  soldiers,  joined  by  one 
hundred  and  twenty  from  Massachusetts  under  Cap- 
tain Israel  S  tough  ton.  A  party  of  three  hundred 
Indians  were  overtaken  and  attacked  in  a  swamp 
near  New  Haven,  and  many  were  captured  or  put 
to  death.  Sassacus,  the  Pequot  chief,  of  whom  the 
Narragansetts  had  such  a  dread  as  to  say  of  him, 
" Sassacus  is  all  one  God;  no  man  can  kill  him," 
contrived  to  reach  the  Mohawks,  but  they  cut  off 
his  head  and  sent  it  as  a  present  to  the  English.2 

The  destruction  of  the  Pequots  as  a  nation  was 
complete.  All  the  captive  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren were  made  slaves,  some  being  kept  in  New 
England  and  others  sent  to  the  West  Indies,3  and 


1  Mason,  Pequot  War  (Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  26.  series, 
III.),  144.          2  Ibid.;  Winthrop, New  England,  I.,  268,  278-281. 
3  Trumbull,  Connecticut,  I.,  92. 


1 639]     CONNECTICUT   AND    NEW   HAVEN        257 

there  remained  at  large  in  Connecticut  not  over  two 
hundred  Pequots.  September  21,  1638,  a  treaty 
was  negotiated  between  the  Connecticut  delegates 
and  the  Narragansetts  and  Mohegans,  by  the  terms 
of  which  the  Pequot  country  became  the  property 
of  the  Connecticut  towns,  while  one  hundred  Pe- 
quots were  given  to  Uncas,  and  one  hundred  to 
Miantonomoh  and  Ninigret,  his  ally,  to  be  incorpo- 
rated with  their  tribes.1 

So  far  as  the  whites  of  Connecticut  were  concerned 
the  effect  of  the  war  was  to  remove  all  real  danger 
from  Indians  for  a  period  of  forty  years.  Not  till 
the  Indians  became  trained  in  the  use  of  fire-arms 
were  they  again  matched  against  the  whites  on  any- 
thing like  equal  terms.  Among  the  Indian  tribes, 
the  result  of  the  Pequot  War  was  to  elevate  Uncas 
and  his  Mohegans  into  a  position  of  rivals  of  Mianto- 
nomoh, and  his  Narragansetts,  with  the  result  of  the 
overthrow  and  death  of  Miantonomoh.  In  the  sub- 
sequent years  war  broke  out  several  times,  but  by 
the  intervention  of  the  federal  commissioners,  who 
bolstered  up  Uncas,  hostilities  did  not  proceed. 

On  the  conclusion  of  the  Pequot  War  the  freemen 
of  the  three  towns  upon  the  Connecticut  convened 
at  Hartford,  January  14,  1639,  and  adopted  "the 
Fundamental  Orders,"  a  constitution  which  has 
been  justly  pronounced  the  first  written  constitution 
framed  by  a  community,  through  its  own  represent- 

1  Mason,  Pequot  War  (Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  2d  series, 
VIII.),  148. 


2^8  ENGLAND    IN    AMERICA  [1639 

atives,  as  a  basis  for  government.  This  constitu- 
tion contained  no  recognition  whatever  of  any  su- 
perior authority  in  England,  and  provided  l  that  the 
freemen  were  to  hold  two  general  meetings  a  year, 
at  one  of  which  they  were  to  elect  the  governor  and 
assistants,  who,  with  four  deputies  from  each  town, 
were  to  constitute  a  general  court  ''to  make  laws 
or  repeal  them,  to  grant  levies,  to  admit  freemen,  to 
dispose  of  lands  undisposed  of  to  several  towns  or 
persons,  call  the  court  or  magistrate  or  any  other 
person  whatsoever  into  question  for  any  misdemean- 
or, and  to  deal  in  any  other  matter  that  concerned 
the  good  of  the  commonwealth,  except  election  of 
magistrates,"  which  was  "to  be  done  by  the  whole 
body  of  freemen." 

Till  1645  tne  deputies  voted  with  the  magistrates, 
but  in  that  year  the  general  court  was  divided  into 
two  branches  as  in  Massachusetts.  In  one  particular 
the  constitution  was  more  liberal  than  the  unwritten 
constitution  of  Massachusetts:  church-membership 
was  not  required  as  a  condition  of  the  suffrage, 
and  yet  in  the  administration  of  the  government 
the  theocracy  was  all  -  powerful.  The  settlers 
of  Connecticut  were  Puritans  of  the  strictest  sect, 
and  in  the  preamble  of  their  constitution  they 
avowed  their  purpose  "  to  maintain  and  preserve  the 
liberty  and  purity  of  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus, 
which  we  now  profess,  as  also  the  discipline  of  the 
churches,  which,  according  to  the  truth  of  the  said 

1  Conn.  Col.  Records,  I.,  20-25,   119. 


1645]    CONNECTICUT   AND    NEW   HAVEN       259 

gospel,  is  now  practised  among  us."  In  1656  the 
law  of  Connecticut  required  the  applicant  for  the 
franchise  to  be  of  "a  peaceable  and  honest  conver- 
sation," and  this  was  very  apt  to  mean  a  church- 
member  in  practice. 

No  one  but  a  church-member  could  be  elected 
governor,  and  in  choosing  assistants  the  vote  was 
taken  upon  each  assistant  in  turn,  and  he  had  to  be 
voted  out  before  any  nomination  could  be  made.1 
In  none  of  the  colonies  was  the  tenure  of  office 
more  constant  or  persevering.  In  a  period  of  about 
twenty  years  Haynes  was  governor  eight  times  and 
deputy  governor  five  times,  Hopkins  was  governor 
six  times  and  deputy  governor  five  times,  while 
John  Winthrop,  the  younger,  served  eighteen  years 
in  the  chief  office. 

The  Connecticut  government  thus  formed  rapidly 
extended  its  jurisdiction.  Although  Springfield  was 
conceded  to  Massachusetts  the  loss  was  made  up 
by  the  accession,  in  1639,  of  Fairfield  and  Stratford, 
west  of  New  Haven,  and,  April,  1644,  of  Southamp- 
ton, on  Long  Island,  and  about  the  same  time  of 
Farmington,  near  Hartford.  In  1639  a  town  had 
been  founded  at  Fort  Saybrook  by  George  Fenwick, 
who  was  one  of  the  Connecticut  patentees.2  In  the 

1  The  same  rule  prevailed  in  Massachusetts.      For  the  result, 
see  Baldwin,  Early  History  of  the  Ballot  in -Connecticut  (Amer. 
Hist.  Assoc.,  Papers,  IV.,  81;  Perry,  Historical  Collections  of 
the    American    Colonial    Church,    21;    Palfrey,    New   England, 
II.,   10. 

2  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  368. 


260  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1644 

confusion  which  ensued  in  England  Fenwick  found 
himself  isolated ;  and,  assuming  to  himself  the  owner- 
ship of  the  fort  and  the  neighboring  town,  he  sold 
both  to  Connecticut  in  1644,  and  promised  to  transfer 
the  rest  of  the  extensive  territory  granted  to  the 
patentees  "if  it  ever  came  into  his  power  to  do 
so."  1  As  the  Connecticut  government  was  entire- 
ly without  any  legal  warrant  from  the  government 
of  England,  this  agreement  of  Fenwick' s  was  deemed 
of  much  value,  for  it  gave  the  colony  a  quasi-legal 
standing. 

In  1649  East  Hampton,  on  Long  Island,  was  'an- 
nexed to  the  colony,  and  in  1650  Norwalk  was  set- 
tled. In  1653  Mattabeseck,  on  the  Connecticut, 
was  named  Middletown;  and  in  1658  Nameaug;  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Pequot  River,  settled  by  John 
Winthrop,  Jr.,  in  1646,  became  New  London.  In 
1653  Connecticut  had  twelve  towns  and  seven 
hundred  and  seventy-five  persons  were  taxed  in  the 
colony.2 

While  Connecticut  was  thus  establishing  itself, 
another  colony,  called  New  Haven,  controlled  by 
the  desire  on  the  part  of  its  leading  men  to  create  a 
state  on  a  thoroughly  theocratic  model,  grew  up 
opposite  to  Long  Island.  The  chief  founder  of  the 
colony  was  John  Davenport,  who  had  been  a  noted 
minister  in  London,  and  with  him  were  associated 
Theophilus  Eaton,  Edward  Hopkins,  and  several 

1  Trumbull,  Connecticut,  I.,  507-510. 

2  Palfrey,  New  England,  IT.,  377. 


1658]     CONNECTICUT   AND    NEW   HAVEN        261 

other  gentlemen  of  good  estates  and  very  religiously 
inclined.  They  reached  Boston  from  England  in 
July,  1637,  when  the  Antinomian  quarrel  was  at  its 
height,  and  Davenport  was  a  member  of  the  synod 
which  devoted  most  of  its  time  to  the  settlement,  or 
rather  the  aggravation,  of  the  Antinomian  difficulty. 

Owing  to  Davenport's  reputation  and  the  wealth 
of  his  principal  friends,  the  authorities  of  Massachu- 
setts made  every  effort  to  retain  them  in  that  colony, 
and  offered  them  their  choice  of  a  place  for  settle- 
ment. These  persuasions  failed,  and  after  a  nine 
months'  stay  Davenport  and  his  followers  moved 
away,  nominally  because  they  desired  to  divert  the 
thoughts  of  those  who  were  plotting  for  a  general 
governor  for  New  England,  but  really  because  there 
were  too  many  Antinomians  in  Massachusetts,  and 
the  model  republic  desired  by  Davenport  could 
never  be  brought  about  by  accepting  the  position  of 
a  subordinate  township  under  the  Massachusetts 
jurisdiction.1 

One  of  the  results  of  the  Pequot  War  was  to  make 
known  the  country  west  of  Fort  Saybrook,  and  in 
the  fall  of  1637  Theophilus  Eaton  and  some  others 
went  on  a  trip  to  explore  for  themselves  the  coasts 
and  lands  in  that  direction.  They  were  so  much 
pleased  with  what  they  saw  at  "  Quinnipiack "  that 
in  March,  1638,  the  whole  company  left  Boston  to 
take  up  their  residence  there,  and  called  their  new 
settlement  New  Haven.  Soon  after  their  arrival 
1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  283,  312,  484. 


262  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1638 

they  entered  into  a  "plantation  covenant,"  pre- 
liminary to  a  more  formal  engagement.1  This  agree- 
ment pledged  the  settlers  to  accept  the  teachings  of 
Scripture  both  as  a  civil  system  and  religious  code. 

Having  no  charter  of  any  kind,  they  founded  their 
rights  to  the  soil  on  purchases  from  the  Indians,  of 
which  they  made  two  (November  and  December, 
i638).2  The  next  summer  they  proceeded  to  the 
solemn  work  of  a  permanent  government.  June  4, 
1639,  all  the  free  planters  met  in  a  barn,  and  Mr. 
Davenport  preached  from  the  text,  "  Wisdom  hath 
builded  her  home;  she  hath  hewn  out  her  seven 
pillars."  He  then  proposed  a  series  of  resolutions 
which  set  forth  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  state 
to  be  conducted  strictly  according  to  the  rules  of 
Scripture.  When  these  resolutions  were  adopted 
Davenport  proposed  two  others  designed  to  reduce 
to  practice  the  theory  thus  formally  approved.  It 
was  now  declared  that  only  church-members  should 
have  the  right  of  citizenship,  and  that  a  committee 
of  twelve  should  be  appointed  to  choose  seven  others 
who  were  to  be  the  constitution-makers.3 

These  articles  were  subscribed  by  one  hundred 
and  thirteen  of  the  people,  and  after  due  time  for 
reflection  the  twelve  men  chosen  as  above  elected 
the  "seven  pillars,"  Theophilus  Eaton,  Esq.,  John 
Davenport,  Robert  Newman,  Matthew  Gilbert, 

1  New  Haven  Col.  Records,  I.,  12. 

3  Trumbull,  Connecticut,  I.,  98. 

8  New  Haven  Col.  Records,  I.,  11-17. 


1 639]     CONNECTICUT  AND   NEW   HAVEN        263 

Thomas  Fugill,  John  Punderson,  and  Jeremiah 
Dixon,  who  proceeded  in  the  same  solemn  and 
regular  manner  to  reorganize  the  church  and  state. 
First  they  set  up  the  church  by  associating  with 
themselves  nine  others,  and  then  after  another  in- 
terval, on  October  25,  1639,  a  court  was  held  at 
which  the  sixteen  church  -  members  proceeded  to 
elect  Theophilus  Eaton  as  governor  for  a  year  and 
four  other  persons  to  aid  him  as  "  deputies,"  who 
were  thereupon  addressed  by  Davenport  in  what 
was  called  a  charge. 

Under  the  government  thus  formed  a  general 
court  of  the  freemen  was  held  every  year  for  the 
election  of  governor  and  assistants,  and  to  these 
officers  was  confided  the  entire  administration  of  af- 
fairs. There  was  no  body  of  statutes  .till  many  years 
later,  and  during  this  time  the  only  restriction  on 
the  arbitrary  authority  of  the  judges  was  the  rules 
of  the  Mosaic  law.  The  body  of  the  free  burgesses 
was  very  cautiously  enlarged  from  court  to  court. 

Hardly  had  the  people  of  New  Haven  settled 
themselves  in  their  new  government  before  two 
other  towns,  Guilford,  seventeen  miles  north,  and 
Milford,  eleven  miles  south,  sprang  up  in  their  neigh- 
borhood. Though  practically  independent,  their 
constitution  was  modelled  after  that  of  New 
Haven.1  Besides  Guilford  and  Milford  another 
town  called  Stamford,  lying  west  of  the  Connecticut 

1  Trumbull,  Connecticut,  I.,  107;  Doyle,  English  Colonies, 
II.,  196. 


264  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1643 

territory  and  loosely  connected  with  New  Haven, 
was  also  settled.1  In  the  political  isolation  of 
these  towns  one  sees  the  principle  of  church  inde- 
pendence, as  held  by  Davenport  and  his  followers. 

In  April,  1643,  apprehension  from  the  Indians, 
the  Dutch,  and  their  neighbor  Connecticut  caused 
a  union  of  these  towns  with  New  Haven.  The  new 
commonwealth  was  organized  just  in  time  to  become 
a  member  of  the  greater  confederation  of  the  colonies 
founded  in  May,  1643.  ^  was  n°t»  however,  till 
October  27,  1643,  that  a  general  constitution  was 
agreed  upon.2  It  confined  the  suffrage  to  church- 
members  and  established  three  courts — the  planta- 
tion court  for  small  cases,  consisting  of  "fitt  and 
able"  men  in  each  town;  the  court  of  magistrates, 
consisting  of  the  governor,  deputy  governor,  and 
three  assistants  for  weighty  cases;  and  the  general 
court,  consisting  of  the  magistrates  and  two  depu- 
ties for  each  of  the  four  towns  which  were  to  sit  at 
New  Haven  twice  a  year,  make  the  necessary  laws 
for  the  confederation,  and  annually  elect  the  magis- 
trates. Trial  by  jury  was  dispensed  with,  because 
no  such  institution  was  found  in  the  Mosaic  law. 

In  1649  Southold,  on  Long  Island,  and  in  1651 
Branford,  on  the  main-land,  were  admitted  as  mem- 
bers of  the  New  Haven  confederacy;  and  in  1656 
Greenwich  was  added.  And  the  seven  towns  thus 
comprehended  gave  the  colony  of  New  Haven  the 
utmost  extent  it  ever  obtained. 

1  New  Haven  Col.  Records,  I.,  69.  *  Ibid.,  112. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

NEW   HAMPSHIRE   AND   MAINE 
(1653-1658) 

AFTER  the  charter  granted  to  the  Council  for 
New  England  in  1620,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges 
and  Captain  John  Mason  procured,  August  10,  1622, 
a  patent  for  "  all  that  part  of  ye  maine  land  in  New 
England  lying  vpon  ye  Sea  Coast  betwixt  ye  rivers 
of  Merrimack  &  Sagadahock  and  to  ye  furthest 
heads  of  ye  said  Rivers  and  soe  forwards  up  into  the 
land  westward  untill  threescore  miles  be  finished 
from  ye  first  entrance  of  the  aforesaid  rivers  and 
half  way  over  that  is  to  say  to  the  midst  of  the  said 
two  rivers  wch  bounds  and  limitts  the  lands  afore- 
said togeather  wth  all  Islands  and  Isletts  wth  in  five 
leagues  distance  of  ye  premisses  and  abutting  vpon 
ye  same  or  any  part  or  parcell  thereoff."  l 

Mason  was  a  London  merchant  who  had  seen  ser- 
vice as  governor  of  Newfoundland,  and  was,  like 
Gorges,  "a  man  of  action."  His  experience  made 
him  interested  in  America,  and  his  interest  in  Amer- 
ica caused  him  to  be  elected  a  member  of  the  Council 
for  New  England,  and  ultimately  its  vice-president.2 

1  Maine  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  ad  series,  VII.,  65-72, 

2  <7o/.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1060,  p.  210. 

266 


1629]       NEW   HAMPSHIRE   AND   MAINE          267 

The  two  leaders  persuaded  various  merchants  in 
England  to  join  them  in  their  colonial  projects ;  and 
in  the  spring  of  1623  they  set  up  two  settlements 
within  the  limits  of  the  present  state  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  some  small  stations  at  Saco  Bay,  Casco 
Bay,  and  Monhegan  Island,  in  the  present  state  of 
Maine. 

Of  the  settlements  in  New  Hampshire,  one  called 
Piscataqua,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  of  that  name, 
was  formed  by  three  Plymouth  merchants,  Colmer, 
Sherwell,  and  Pomeroy,  who  chose  a  Scotchman 
named  David  Thompson  as  their  manager..  They 
obtained  a  grant,  October  16, 1622,  for  an  island,  and 
six  thousand  acres  on  the  main,  near  the  mouth 
of  Piscataqua;  and  here  Thompson  located  in  the 
spring  of  1623.  He  remained  about  three  years, 
and  in  1626  removed  thence  to  an  island  in  Boston 
harbor,  where  he  lived  as  an  independent  settler.1 
The  other  plantation,  called  Cocheco,  was  estab- 
lished by  two  brothers,  Edward  and  William  Hilton, 
fish-mongers  of  London,  and  some  Bristol  merchants, 
and  was  situated  on  the  south  side  of  the  Pis- 
cataqua about  eight  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the 
river.2 

November  7,  1629,  Captain  Mason  obtained  a 
patent3  from  the  Council  for  New  England  for  a 
tract  extending  sixty  miles  inland  and  lying  between 

1  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  Proceedings  (year  1876),  358. 

2  Bel  knap,  New  Hampshire,  20. 

8  Maine  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  26.  series,  VII. ,  96-98. 


268  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1629 

the  Merrimac  and  Piscataqua  rivers,  being  a  part  of 
the  territory  granted  to  Gorges  and  himself  in  1622. 
He  called  it  New  Hampshire  in  honor  of  Hampshire, 
in  England,  where  he  had  an  estate.  Seven  days 
later  the  same  grantors  gave  to  a  company  of  whom 
Mason  and  Gorges  were  the  most  prominent  mer- 
chants, a  patent  for  the  province  of  Laconia,  de- 
scribing it  as  "bordering  on  the  great  lake  or  lakes 
or  rivers  called  Iroquois,  a  nation  of  savage  people 
inhabiting  into  the  landward  between  the  rivers 
Merrimac  and  Sagadahoc,  lying  near  about  forty- 
four  or  forty-five  degrees."  And  in  1631  Gorges, 
Mason,  and  others  obtained  another  grant  for  twenty 
thousand  acres,  which  included  the  settlement  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Piscataqua. 

Under  these  grants  Gorges  and  Mason  spent  up- 
ward of  £3000 l  in  making  discoveries  and  estab- 
lishing factories  for  salting  fish  and  fur  trading; 
but  as  very  little  attention  was  paid  to  husbandry 
at  either  of  the  settlements  on  the  Piscataqua, 
they  dragged  out  for  years  a  feeble  and  precarious 
existence.  At  Piscataqua,  Walter  Neal  was  gov- 
ernor from  1630  to  1633  and  Francis  Williams 
from  1634  to  1642,  and  the  people  were  distinctly 
favorable  to  the  Anglican  church.  At  Cocheco, 
Captain  Thomas  Wiggin  was  governor  in  1631 ;  and 
when,  in  1633,  the  British  merchants  sold  their 
share  in  the  plantation  to  Lord  Say  and  Sele,  Lord 
Brooke,  and  two  other  partners,  Wiggin  remained 

1  Maine  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  ?d  series,  VII.,  98-107,  143-150. 


i638]       NEW   HAMPSHIRE    AND   MAINE          269 

governor,  and  the  transfer  was  followed  by  the  in- 
flux of  Puritan  settlers.1 

After  the  Antinomian  persecution  in  Massachu- 
setts some  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson's  followers  took 
refuge  at  Cocheco,  and  prominent  among  them  were 
Captain  John  Underhill  and  Rev.  Thomas  Wheel- 
wright. Underhill  became  governor  of  the  town  in 
1638,  and  his  year  of  rule  is  noted  for  dissensions 
occasioned  by  the  ambitious  actions  of  several  con- 
tentious, immoral  ministers.  Underhill  was  the 
central  figure  in  the  disturbances,  but  at  the  next 
election,  in  1639,  he  was  defeated  and  Roberts  was 
elected  governor  of  Cocheco.  Dissensions  continued, 
however,  till  in  1640  Francis  Williams,  governor  of 
Piscataqua,  interfered  with  an  armed  force.  Under- 
hill returned  to  Boston,  and  by  humbly  professing  re- 
pentance for  his  conduct  he  was  again  received  into 
the  church  there.2  He  then  joined  the  Dutch,  but 
when  Connecticut  and  New  Haven  were  clamorous 
for  war  with  the  Dutch  in  1653  he  plotted  against 
his  new  master,  was  imprisoned,  and  escaped  to 
Rhode  Island,3  where  he  received  a  commission  to 
prey  on  Dutch  commerce. 

Meanwhile,  Mr.  Wheelwright  left  Cocheco,  and 
in  1638  established  southeast  of  it,  at  Squamscott 
Falls,  a  small  settlement  which  he  and  his  fellow- 
colonists  called  Exeter.4  In  October,  1639,  after 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  137. 

2  Ibid.,  I.,  394,  II.,  33.  49.  76- 

8  Plymouth  Col.  Records,  X.,  31,  52,  426. 
4  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  740. 

VOL.    IV.— 19 


270  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1639 

the  manner  of  the  Rhode  Island  towns,  the  inhabi- 
tants, thirty-five  in  number,  entered  a  civil  contract 
to  "  submit  themselves  to  such  godly  and  Christian 
lawes  as  are  established  in  the  realm  of  England  to 
our  best  knowledge,  and  to  all  other  such  lawes 
which  shall,  upon  good  ground,  be  made  and  enacted 
among -us  according  to  God."  This  action  was  fol- 
lowed in  1641  by  their  neighbors  at  Cocheco,  where 
the  contract  was  subscribed  by  forty-one  settlers; 
and  about  the  same  time,  it  is  supposed,  Piscataqua 
adopted  the  same  system.1 

This  change  of  fishing  and  trading  stations  into 
regular  townships  was  a  marked  political  advance, 
but  as  yet  each  town  was  separate  and  independent. 
The  next  great  step  was  their  union  under  one  gov- 
ernment, which  was  hastened  by  the  action  of 
Massachusetts.  In  the  assertion  of  her  claim  that 
her  northern  boundary  was  a  due  east  and  west  line 
three  miles  north  of  the  most  northerly  part-  of  the 
Merrimac,  Massachusetts  as  early  as  1636  built  a 
house  upon  certain  salt  marshes  midway  between  the 
Merrimac  and  Piscataqua.  Subsequently,  when  Mr. 
Wheelwright,  in  1638,  proposed  to  extend  the  townr 
ship  of  Exeter  in  that  direction,  he  was  warned  off 
by  Governor  Winthrop,  and  in  1641  Massachusetts 
settled  at  the  place  a  colony  of  emigrants  from  Nor- 
folk, in  England,  and  called  the  town  Hampton. 

Massachusetts  in  a  few  years  took  an  even  more 
decided  step.  At  Cocheco,  or  Dover,  as  it  was  now 

1  N.  H.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  ist  series,  I.,  321,  324. 


1641]       NEW   HAMPSHIRE   AND   MAINE          271 

called,  where  the  majority  of  the  people  were  Non- 
conformists, the  desire  of  support  from  Massachu- 
setts caused  the  policy  of  submission  to  receive  the 
approval  of  both  contending  parties  in  town;  and 
in  1639  the  settlers  made  overtures  to  Massachu- 
setts for  incorporation.1  The  settlers  at  Piscataqua, 
or  Strawberry  Bank  (Portsmouth),  being  Anglicans, 
were  opposed  to  incorporation,  but  submitted  from 
stress  of  circumstances.  After  the  death  of  Captain 
Mason,  in  1635,  his  widow  declined  to  keep  up  the 
industries  established  by  him,  and  sent  word  to  his 
servants  at  Strawberry  Bank  to  shift  for  them- 
selves.2 

Several  years  later  Lord  Say  and  Sele  and  Lord 
Brooke,  who  were  the  chief  owners  of  Dover,  obtained 
from  Mason's  merchant  partners  in  England  the  title 
to  Strawberry  Bank,  and  being  in  sympathy  with 
Massachusetts  they  offered,  in  1641,  to  resign  to  her 
the  jurisdiction  of  both  places.  The  proposal  was 
promptly  accepted,  and  two  commissioners,  Sym- 
onds  and  Brad  street,  went  from  Massachusetts  to 
arrange  with  the  inhabitants  the  terms  of  incorpora- 
tion. The  towns  were  guaranteed  their  liberties, 
allowed  representation  in  the  Massachusetts  gen- 
eral court,  and  exempted  from  the  requirements  of 
the  Massachusetts  constitution  that  all  voters  and 
officers  must  be  members  of  the  Congregational 
church.3 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  349,  384. 

*N.  H.  Col.  Records,  I.,  113. 

8  Mctss.  Col.  Records,  I.,  332,  342,  II.,  29. 


272  ENGLAND   IN  AMERICA  [1643 

In  1643  Exeter  followed  the  example  of  Dover  and 
Strawberry  Bank  by  accepting  the  protection  of 
Massachusetts,  but  it  thereby  lost  its  founder.  Be- 
ing under  sentence  of  banishment,  Mr.  Wheelwright 
withdrew  to  the  territory  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges, 
where,  having  obtained  a  patent,  he  founded  the  city 
of  Welles.  In  1644  he  applied  to  Winthrop,  and  was 
permitted  on  a  slight  submission  to  take  charge  of 
the  church  at  Hampton.1  After  several  years  he 
visited  England,  where  he  was  a  favorite  of  Crom- 
well. At  the  Restoration  he  returned  and  settled 
at  Salisbury,  in  Massachusetts,  where  he  died  in  1679. 
He  is  perhaps  the  single  bright  light  in  the  ecclesi- 
astical history  of  early  New  Hampshire.2 

The  four  towns — Dover,  Strawberry  Bank,  Exeter, 
and  Hampton,  with  Salisbury  and  Haverhill  on  the 
northern  banks  of  the  Merrimac — were,  in  1643, 
made  to  constitute  the  county  of  Norfolk,  one  of 
the  four  counties  into  which  Massachusetts  was  then 
divided.3 

A  similar  fortune  at  a  later  date  overtook  the 
townships  to  the  north  of  the  Piscataqua.  The 
origin  of  the  name  "Maine,"  applied  to  the  regions 
of  these  settlements,  has  never  been  satisfactorily 
explained.  Possibly  it  was  a  compliment  to  Hen- 
rietta Maria,  the  French  wife  of  Charles  I.;  more 
probably  the  fishermen  used  it  to  distinguish  the 

1  Mass.  Col.  Records,  II.,  67 ;  Winthrop,  New  England,  II.,  195. 

2  Palfrey,  New  England,  I.,  594. 

3  Mass.  Col.  Records,  II.,  38. 


1643]       NEW   HAMPSHIRE   AND   MAINE          273 

continent  from  the  islands.  The  term  "  Maine"  first 
occurs  in  the  grant  to  Gorges  and  Mason,  August  22, 
1622,  which  embraced  all  the  land  between  the 
Merrimac  and  the  Sagadahoc,  or  Kennebec.  By 
Mason's  patent  in  1629  the  country  west  of  the 
Piscataqua  was  called  New  Hampshire,  and  after 
that  Maine  was  a  name  applied  to  the  region  be- 
tween the  Piscataqua  and  Kennebec.  In  more 
modern  times  it  was  extended  to  the  country  be- 
yond, as  far  as  the  St.  Croix  River. 

Under  Gorges'  influence  Christopher  Levett  made 
a  settlement  in  1623  on  an  island  in  Saco  Bay  which 
has  been  called  "the  first  regular  settlement  in 
Maine."  l  The  same  year  some  Plymouth  mer- 
chants planted  a  colony  upon  Monhegan  Island, 
which  had  been  long  a  place  of  general  resort  for 
fishermen.2  And  about  the  same  time  Gorges  made 
a  settleinent  on  the  "maine"  at  Saco,3  under  the 
management  of  Richard  Vines.  By  two  patents, 
both  dated  February  12,  1630,  this  settlement  was 
divided  into  two  parts — one  to  Vines  and  Oldham, 
one  to  Lewis  and  Bonighton — each  extending  four 
miles  along  by  the  sea-shore  and  eight  miles  along 
the  river-banks.  These  two  tracts  formed  the  town- 
ship of  Saco,  a  part  of  which  now  bears  the  name  of 
Biddeford.  In  1625  the  settlement  of  Pemaquid  is 


1  Doyle,  English  Colonies,  II.,  215. 

2  Williamson,  Maine,  I.,  226. 

8  Gorges,  Description   of   New  England,   79;   Doyle,  English 
Colonies,   II.,   215. 


274  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1631 

known  to  have  occurred,  but  it  was  not  patented  till 
February  14,  1631,  by  the  Bristol  merchants  Aids- 
worth  and  Elbridge.  Next  in  order  of  settlement 
was  probably  the  trading-post  of  the  Plymouth  col- 
ony at  Kennebec,  for  which  a  patent  was  obtained 
in  1628. 

Many  other  patents  were  issued  by  the  Council  for 
New  England.  Thus,  March  13,  1630,  John  Beau- 
champ  and  Thomas  Leverett  obtained  a  grant  of 
ten  leagues  square,  between  Muscongus  and  Penob- 
scot  Bay  upon  which  they  set  up  a  factory  for  trad- 
ing with  the  Indians;  while  the  modern  city  of 
Scarboro,  on  Casco  Bay,  occupies  a  tract  which 
was  made  the  subject  of  two  conflicting  grants, 
one  to  Richard  Bradshaw,  November  4,  and  the 
other  to  Robert  Trelawney  and  Moses  Goodyear, 
December  i,  I63I.1 

Three  other  patents  issued  by  the  Council  for  New 
England,  and  having  an  important  connection  with 
subsequent  history,  remain  to  be  mentioned.  The 
first,  December,  1631,  granted  twenty-four  thousand 
acres  ten  miles  distant  from  Piscataqua  to  Ferdi- 
nando  Gorges  (son  and  heir  of  John  Gorges) ,  Samuel 
Maverick,  and  several  others.  Many  settlers  came 
over,  and  the  first  manager  was  Colonel  Norton,  but 
in  a  short  time  he  appeared  to  have  been  superseded 
by  William  Gorges,  nephew  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges.2 

1  Maine    Hist.    Soc.,    Collections,   26.    series,   VII.,    125,    150, 
1 60,  163;  Doyle,  English  Colonies,  II.,  324. 

2  Gorges,  Description  of  New  England,  79. 


1635]       NEW   HAMPSHIRE   AND    MAINE          275 

After  the  division  in  1635,  by  which  his  title  be- 
tween the  Piscataqua  and  the  Kennebec  was  af- 
firmed, Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  erected  the  coast 
from  Cape  Elizabeth,  a  few  miles  north  of  Saco,  as 
far  as  Kennebec,  into  a  district  called  New  Somerset- 
shire.1 Two  years  later  Gorges  obtained  from  King 
Charles  a  royal  charter  constituting  him  proprie- 
tor of  the  "  province  or  county  of  Maine,"  with  all 
the  rights  of  a  count  palatine.2  The  provisions  of 
this  charter  are  more  curious  than  important.  The 
territory  granted,  which  included  Agamenticus,  was 
embraced  between  the  Piscataqua  and  Kennebec, 
and  extended  inland  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles. 
The  lord  proprietor  had  the  right  to  divide  his  prov- 
ince into  counties,  appoint  all  officers,  and  to  exe- 
cute martial  law.  But  while  his  rights  were  thus 
extensive,  the  liberties  of  the  people  were  preserved 
by  a  provision  for  a  popular  assembly  to  join  with 
him  in  making  laws. 

The  charter  certainly  was  out  of  keeping  with 
the  conditions  of  a  distant  empire  inhabited  only  by 
red  savages  and  a  few  white  fishermen ;  but  Gorges' 
elaborate  plan  for  regulating  the  government  seemed 
even  more  far-fetched.  He  proposed  to  have  not  only 
a  lieutenant-governor,  but  a  chancellor,  a  marshal,  a 
treasurer,  an  admiral,  a  master  of  ordnance,  and  a 
secretary,  and  they  were  to  act  as  a  council  of  state.3 

1  "Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  276. 

2  Maine  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  2d  series,  VII.,  222—243. 

3  Gorges,  Description  of  New  England,  83. 


276  ENGLAND   IN  AMERICA  [1640 

To  this  wild  realm  in  Norumbega,  Thomas  Gorges. 
"a  sober  and  well-disposed  young  man,"  nephew  of 
the  lord  proprietor,  was  commissioned  in  1640  to  be 
the  first  governor,  and  stayed  three  years  in  the 
colony.1  Agamenticus  (now  York)  was  only  a 
small  hamlet,  but  the  lord  proprietor  honored  it  in 
March,  1652,  by  naming  it  Gorgeana,  after  himself, 
and  incorporating  it  as  a  city.  The  charter  of  this 
first  city  of  the  United  States  is  a  historical  curiosity, 
since  for  a  population  of  about  two  hundred  and 
fifty  inhabitants  it  provided  a  territory  covering 
twenty-one  square  miles  and  a  body  of  nearly  forty 
officials.2 

The  second  of  the  three  important  patents  led 
to  the  absorption  of  Maine  by  the  government  of 
Massachusetts.  The  claim  of  Massachusetts  to  ju- 
risdiction over  the  settlements  in  New  Hampshire 
as  readily  applied  to  Maine;  and,  in  addition,  the 
patent  granted  in  June,  1632,  by  the  Council  for 
New  England,  to  George  Way  and  Thomas  Purchas, 
gave  a  tract  of  land  along  the  river  "Bishopscot" 
or  "Pejepscot,"  better  known  as  the  Androscog- 
gin.3  In  1639  Massachusetts,  by  buying  this  prop- 
erty, secured  her  first  hold  on  the  land  within 
Gorges'  patent.4  The  revival  in  1643  of  another 
patent,  believed  to  have  been  abandoned,  but  with 
rights  conflicting  with  the  patent  of  Gorges,  both 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  II.,  n. 
'Hazard,  State  Papers,  I.,  470. 
8  Cat.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  p.  152. 
4  Mass.  Col.  Records,  I.,  272. 


1646]       NEW  HAMPSHIRE   AND   MAINE          277 

prompted  and  excused  the  interference  of  Massa- 
chusetts. 

The  third  great  patent  was  a  grant  made  by  the 
Council  for  New  England,  in  June,  1630,  for  a  tract 
extending  from  Cape  Porpoise  to  Cape  Elizabeth, 
and  hence  taking  in  Gorges'  settlement  at  Saco.1 
This  patent  was  known  as  the  Lygonian,  or  "  Plough 
patent,"  the  latter  commemorating  the  name  of  the 
vessel  which  brought  over  the  first  settlers,  who 
after  a  short  time  gave  up  the  settlement  and  went 
to  Boston  in  July,  1631.  For  twelve  years  the 
patent  was  neglected,  but  in  1643  the  rights  of  the 
original  patentees  were  purchased  by  Alexander 
Rigby,  a  prominent  member  of  Parliament.2  He 
sent  over  as  his  agent  George  Cleves,  but  when  he 
arrived  in  America  in  1644  his  assumption  of  au- 
thority under  the  Plough  patent  was  naturally  re- 
sisted by  the  government  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges. 

Cleves  set  up  his  government  at  Casco,  and  Vines, 
his  rival,  organized  his  at  Saco.  When  Cleves  sent 
his  friend  Tucker  to  Vines  with  a  proposal  to  set- 
tle the  controversy,  Vines  arrested  the  envoy  and 
threw  him  into  prison.  Both  parties  appealed  to 
the  government  of  Massachusetts,  who  gave  them 
advice  to  remain  quiet.  The  contention  continued, 
however,  and  at  last  the  Massachusetts  court  of 
assistants,  in  June,  1646,  consented  to  refer  the  case 
to  a  jury.  Then  it  appeared  that  there  were  six  or 

1  Maine  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  2d  series,  VII.,  133-136. 

2  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  69,  II.,  186. 


278  ENGLAND   IN  AMERICA  [1646 

eight  patentees  in  the  original  Plough  patent,  and 
Mr.  Rigby's  agent  could  only  show  an  assignment 
from  two.  On  the  other  hand,  Vines  could  not  pro- 
duce the  royal  patent  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges, 
which  was  in  England,  and  had  only  a  copy  attested 
by  witnesses.  On  account  of  these  defects  the  jury 
declined  to  bring  in  a  verdict. 

Cleves  had  better  fortune  with  the  parliamentary 
commissioners  for  foreign  plantations,  to  whom  he 
carried  the  dispute,  since  before  this  tribunal  the 
veteran  Gorges,  who  had  taken  the  king's  side,  had 
little  chance  to  be  heard.  In  March,  1646,  they 
decided  in  favor  of  Rigby,  and  made  the  Kennebunk 
River  the  boundary-line  between  the  two  rival  pro- 
prietors, thus  reducing  Gorges'  dominions  in  Maine 
to  only  three  towns — Gorgeana,  Welles,  and  Kittery, 
which  had  grown  up  at  the  mouth  of  the  Piscataqua 
opposite  to  Strawberry  Bank.1 

The  year  following  this  decision  Gorges  died,  and 
the  province  of  Maine  was  left  practically  without  a 
head.  The  settlers  wrote  to  his  heirs  for  instruc- 
tion, but  owing  to  the  confusion  of  the  times  re- 
ceived no  reply.2  In  this  state  of  doubt  and  sus- 
pense the  general  court  was,  in  1649,  convoked  at 
Welles,  when  Edward  Godfrey  was  elected  governor. 
Then  another  address  was  prepared  and  transmitted 
to  England,  but  it  met  with  no  better  fortune  than 
the  first.  Accordingly,  in  July,  1649,  the  settlers 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  II.,  186,  313,  390. 

2  Maine  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  zd  series,  VII.,  266,  267. 


1652]       NEW   HAMPSHIRE   AND   MAINE          279 

of  the  three  townships  met  at  Gorgeana  and  declared 
themselves  a  body  politic.  Edward  Godfrey  was 
re-elected  governor,  and  a  council  of  five  members 
were  chosen  to  assist  him  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duties.1 

In  this  state  of  affairs,  deserted  by  their  friends  in 
England,  the  Maine  settlements  looked  an  inviting 
prey  to  Massachusetts.  In  October,  1651,  three 
commissioners  were  appointed  to  proceed  to  Kittery 
to  convey  the  warning  of  Massachusetts  "  against 
any  further  proceeding  by  virtue  of  their  combina- 
tion or  any  other  interest  whatsoever."  2  Godfrey 
declined  to  submit,  and  in  behalf  of  the  general 
court  of  the  colony  addressed  a  letter,  December 
5,  1651,  to  the  Council  of  State  of  Great  Britain 
praying  a  confirmation  of  the  government  which  the 
settlers  had  erected.  Cleves,  at  the  head  of  the 
Rigby  colony,  made  common  cause  with  Godfrey 
and  carried  the  petition  to  England,  but  he  met  with 
no  success.  The  death  of  Rigby  rendered  Cleves' s 
influence  of  no  avail  against  the  Massachusetts  agent, 
Edward  Winslow,  who  showed  that  Cleves' s  mission 
had  originated  among  American  royalists.3 

This  opposition,  in  fact,  served  only  to  hasten  the 
action  of  Massachusetts.  In  May,  1652,  surveyors 
were  appointed  by  the  general  court  who  traced  the 
stream  of  the  Merrimac  as  far  north  as  the  par- 

1  Maine  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  26.  series,  VII.,  266,  267  ;  Will- 
iamson, Maine,  I.,  326.  2  Mass,  Col.  Records,  IV.,  pt.  i.,  70. 
8  Williamson,  Maine,  I.,  336. 


280  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1652 

allel  of  43°  40'  12". l  Then,  despite  the  protests  of 
Godfrey,  commissioners  were  again  sent  to  Kittery, 
where  they  opened  a  court,  November  15,  and 
shortly  after  received  the  submission  of  the  inhabi- 
tants.2 They  next  proceeded  to  Gorgeana,  where 
the  like  result  followed,  Governor  Godfrey  reluc- 
tantly submitting  with  the  rest.  Gorgeana  was 
made  a  town  under  the  Massachusetts  jurisdiction, 
by  the  name  of  York,  and  all  the  country  claimed 
by  Massachusetts  beyond  the  Piscataqua  was  made 
into  a  county  of  the  same  name.3 

Next  year,  1653,  commissioners  were  sent  to 
Welles,  the  remaining  town  in  the  Gorges  jurisdic- 
tion, to  summon  to  obedience  the  inhabitants  there 
and  at  Saco  and  Cape  Porpoise,  in  the  Lygonian 
patent,  and  the  conditions  made  resistance  unlike- 
ly. Disregarding  the  Rigby  claims,4  the  settlers  in 
southern  Maine  accepted  the  overture  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts commissioners.  Accordingly,  Welles,  Saco, 
and  Cape  Porpoise  followed  the  example  of  Kittery 
and  Gorgeana,  and  came  under  the  government  of 
Massachusetts. 

The  inhabitants  north  of  Saco  about  Casco  Bay 
remained  independent  for  several  years  after. 
Cleves  and  other  leading  inhabitants  would  not  sub- 
mit, and  they  tried  to  secure  the  interference  of 


1  Maine  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  ad  series,  VII.,  273. 

2  Ibid.,  2^4;  Mass.  Col.  Records,  IV.,  pt.  i.,  122-126. 

3  Mass.  Col.  Records,  IV.,  pt.  i.,  129. 

4  Williamson,  Maine,  I.,  340,  341. 


1658]       NEW   HAMPSHIRE   AND   MAINE          281 

Cromwell.  When  they  failed  in*this  attempt,  the 
people  of  Casco  Bay,  in  1658,  recognized  the  au- 
thority of  Massachusetts.  It  was  at  this  time  that 
the  plantations  at  Black  Point,  at  Spurwink,  and 
Blue  Point  were  united  and  received  the  name  of 
Scarboro  and  those  at  Casco  Bay  received  that  of 
Falmouth.1 

Whatever  judgment  we  may  pass  on  the  motives 
of  Massachusetts  in  thus  enlarging  her  borders  to  the 
farthest  limits  of  settled  territory  north  of  Plym- 
outh, it  must  be  acknowledged  that  her  course  in- 
ured to  the  benefit  of  all  parties  concerned.  The 
unruly  settlements  of  the  north  received  in  time 
an  orderly  government,  while  each  successive  addi- 
tion of  territory  weakened  the  power  of  the  religious 
aristocracy  in  Massachusetts  by  welcoming  into  the 
body  politic  a  new  factor  of  population. 

1  Mass.  Col.  Records,  IV.,  pt.  i.f  157-165,  359-360. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

COLONIAL  NEIGHBORS 
(1643-1652) 

ALTHOUGH  the  successive  English  colonies — 
/A  Virginia,  Maryland,  Plymouth,  Massachusetts, 
Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New  Haven,  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  Maine — each  sprang  from  separate  im- 
pulses, we  have  seen  how  one  depended  upon  anoth- 
er and  how  inextricably  their  history  is  connected 
each  with  the  other.  Even  the  widely  separated 
southern  and  northern  groups  had  intercourse  and 
some  transmigration.  Thus  the  history  of  each  colony 
is  a  strand  in  the  history  of  England  in  America. 

In  the  same  way  the  history  of  each  colony  and 
of  the  colonies  taken  together  is  interwoven  with 
that  of  colonies  of  other  European  nations  —  the 
Spaniards,  French,  and  Dutch — planted  at  first  dis- 
tant from  the  English  settlements,  but  gradually 
expanding  into  dangerous  proximity.  It  was  from 
a  desire  to  protect  themselves  against  the  danger  of 
attack  by  their  foreign  neighbors  and  to  press  their 
territorial  claims  that  the  New  England  group  of 
English  colonies  afforded  the  example  of  the  first 
American  confederation. 


1 643]  COLONIAL   NEIGHBORS  283 

Danger  to  the  English  colonization  came  first 
from  the  Spaniards,  who  claimed  a  monopoly  of  the 
whole  of  North  America  by  virtue  of  discovery,  the 
bull  of  Pope  Alexander  VI. ,  and  prior  settlement. 
When  Sir  Francis  Drake  returned  from  his  expedi- 
tion in  1580  the  Spanish  authorities  in  demanding 
the  return  of  the  treasure  which  he  took  from  their 
colonies  in  South  America  vigorously  asserted  their 
pre-emptive  rights  to  the  continent.  But  the  Eng- 
lish government  made  this  famous  reply — '  *  that  pre- 
scription without  possession  availed  nothing,  and 
that  every  nation  had  a  right  by  the  law  of  nature 
to  freely  navigate  those  seas  and  transport  colonies 
to  those  parts  where  the  Spaniards  do  not  inhabit."  1 

The  most  northerly  settlement  of  the  Spaniards 
in  1580  was  St.  Augustine,  in  Florida,  for,  though  in 
1524  Vasquez  de  Ay  lion  had  planted  a  settlement 
called  San  Miguel  on  James  River,  starvation,  dis- 
ease, and  Indian  tomahawk  soon  destroyed  it. 
After  the  defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada  and  the 
subsequent  terrible  punishment  inflicted  on  the 
Spanish  marine  England  was  less  disposed  than 
ever  to  listen  to  the  claims  of  Spain.2  Reduced  in 
power,  the  Spaniards  substituted  intrigue  for  war- 
like measures,  and  while  they  entangled  King  James 
in  its  web  and  hastened  a  change  in  the  form  of 
government  for  Virginia,  they  did  not  inflict  any 
permanent  injury  upon  the  colony. 

1  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I.,  8. 

2  Bourne,  Spain  in  America,  chap.  x. 


284  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1643 

In  1624  England  declared  war  against  Spain,  and 
English  emigrants  invaded  the  West  Indies  and 
planted  colonies  at  Barbadoes,  St.  Christopher, 
Nevis,  Montserrat,  and  other  islands  adjoining  the 
Spanish  settlements.  Till  the  New  England  Con- 
federation the  chief  scene  of  collision  with  the 
Spanish  was  the  West  Indies.  In  1635  the  Spanish 
attacked  and  drove  the  English  from  the  Tortugas, 
and  Wormeley,  the  governor,  and  many  of  the  in- 
habitants took  refuge  in  Virginia.1 

Because  of  their  proximity  the  danger  from  the 
French  colonies  was  far  more  real.  Small  fishing- 
vessels  from  Biscay,  Brittany,  and  Normandy  were 
in  the  habit  of  visiting  the  coast  of  Newfoundland 
and  adjacent  waters  from  as  early  as  1504.  Jean 
Denys,  of  Honfleur,  visited  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence 
in  1506,  and  in  1508  Thomas  Aubert  sailed  eighty 
leagues  up  the  St.  Lawrence  River.2  In  1518 
Baron  de  Lery  attempted  to  establish  a  colony  on 
Sable  Island,  and  left  there  some  cattle  and  hogs, 
which  multiplied  and  proved  of  advantage  to  later 
adventurers.  Then  followed  the  great  voyage  of 
John  Verrazzano,  who,  in  1524,  in  a  search  for  the 
East  Indies,  sailed  up  the  coast  from  thirty -four  to 
fifty-four  degrees.  In  1534  Jacques  Cartier  visited 
Newfoundland  and  advanced  up  the  river  St.  Law- 
rence till  he  reached  the  western  part  of  Anticosti 
Island.  The  next  year  Cartier  came  again  and 

1  Cat.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  pp.  75,  85,  98. 

2  Charlevoix,  New  France  (Shea's  ed.),  I.,  106. 


1643]  COLONIAL   NEIGHBORS  285 

ascended  the  great  river  many  miles,  visiting  Sta- 
dacone  (Quebec)  and  Hochelaga  (Montreal).  At 
Quebec  he  encamped  with  his  men,  and,  after  a 
winter  rendered  frightful  by  the  cold  and  the  rav- 
ages of  the  scurvy,  he  returned  in  the  spring  to  St. 
Malo.1 

No  further  attempt  was  made  till  a  short  peace 
ended  the  third  desperate  struggle  between  Charles 
V.  and  Francis  I.  In  1540  King  Francis  created 
Francis  de  la  Roque,  Sieur  de  Roberval,  lord  of 
Norumbega  and  viceroy  of  "Canada,  Hochelaga, 
Saguenay,  Newfoundland,  Bell  Isle,  Carpunt,  Labra- 
dor, Great  Bay,  and  Baccalaos";  and  Cartier  was 
made  "captain -general."  The  expedition  sailed 
in  two  divisions,  Cartier  commanding  the  first,  which 
left  St.  Malo  May  23,  1641.  Again  he  passed  a  win- 
ter of  gloom  and  suffering  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  and 
in  June  of  the  following  year  set  out  to  return. 

On  the  coast  of  Newfoundland  he  met  Roberval, 
who  had  charge  of  the  second  division  of  the  ships 
and  two  hundred  colonists.  The  viceroy  ordered 
him  to  return,  but  Cartier  slipped  past  him  at  night 
and  left  Roberval  to  hold  the  country  the  best  he 
could.  Undismayed,  Roberval  pursued  his  way, 
entered  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  established  his  colony 
at  Quebec.  He  sent  Jean  Alefonse  to  explore 
Norumbega,  a  term  applied  to  the  coast  of  Maine, 
Nova  Scotia,  and  Newfoundland;  and  he  himself 

1  Hakluyt,  Voyages,  III.,  250-297;  Charlevoix,  New  France 
(Shea's  ed.),  I.,  129-131;  cf.  Bourne,  Spain  in  America,  chap.  x. 

VOL.   IV. 20 


286  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1543 

explored  the  river  Sa.guenay.  Lescarbot  tells  us 
that  in  the  course  of  1543  the  king  sent  out  Cartier, 
who  brought  home  the  wretched  survivors  of  the 
company. 

Then  for  nearly  fifteen  years  the  civil  wars  in 
France  prevented  any  further  effort  at  settlement 
on  the  St.  Lawrence.  Scores  of  French  vessels, 
however,  visited  the  region  of  the  northwest  for  fish 
and  furs,  and  as  soon  as  the  civil  wars  were  ended 
the  work  of  colonization  was  taken  up  anew.  Fail- 
ure as  of  old  attended  the  first  experiments.  In 
1598  Marquis  de  la  Roche  landed  forty  convicts  at 
Sable  Island,  but  after  seven  years  the  few  survivors 
received  a  pardon  and  returned  home.  In  1600 
Chauvin  and  Pontgrav6  promised  to  establish  a  col- 
ony on  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  obtained  from  King 
Henry  IV.  a  grant  of  the  fur  trade,  but  Chauvin 
died  and  the  undertaking  came  to  an  end.1 

In  1603  the  first  systematic  effort  to  found  French 
colonies  in  America  was  made.  A  company  was 
formed  at  the  head  of  which  was  Aymar  de  Chastes, 
governor  of  Dieppe,  who  sent  over  Samuel  Cham- 
plain.  He  visited  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  after  care- 
ful exploration  returned  to  France  with  a  valuable 
cargo  of  furs.  On  his  arrival  he  found  De  Chastes 
dead,  but  Pierre  du  Guast,  Sieur  de  Monts,  a  pa- 
triotic Huguenot,  took  up  the  unfinished  work.  He 
received  from  Henry  IV.  a  patent 2  "to  represent 

1  Parkman,  Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New  World,  213,  218. 

2  Maine  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  2d  series,  VII.,  2-6. 


i6n]  COLONIAL   NEIGHBORS  287 

our  person  as  lieutenant-general  in  the  country  of 
Acadia  from  the  fortieth  to  the  forty-sixth  degree," 
with  governmental  authority,  and  the  exclusive 
privileges  of  traffic  with  the  Indians. 

April  7,  1604,  De  Monts,  accompanied  by  Cham- 
plain,  sailed  from  Havre  de  Grace,  and  May  i  came 
in  sight  of  Sable  Island.  They  sailed  up  the  Bay 
of  Fundy  and  entered  a  harbor  on  the  north  coast 
of  Nova  Scotia.  Poutrincourt,  one  of  the  leading 
men,  was  so  pleased  with  the  region  that  he  ob- 
tained a  grant  of  it  from  De  Monts,  and  named  it 
Port  Royal  (now  Annapolis).  After  further  ex- 
ploration De  Monts  planted  his  settlement  on  the 
Isle  of  St.  Croix,  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Croix 
River,  where  he  passed  the  winter;  but  half  the 
emigrants  died  from  exposure  and  scurvy,  and  in 
the  spring  the  colony  was  transferred  to  Port  Royal. 
After  three  years  spent  in  the  country,  during  which 
time  the  coast  was  explored  thoroughly  by  Cham- 
plain  and  Poutrincourt  as  far  as  Nausett  Harbor, 
the  Acadian  emigrants  went  back  to  France,  which 
they  reached  in  October,  1607. 

The  design  was  not  abandoned.  Poutrincourt  re- 
turned in  1 6 10  and  re-established  his  colony  at  Port 
Royal,  which  he  placed  in  charge  of  his  son.  In 
1611  two  Jesuit  priests,  Biard  and  Masse,  came  over, 
under  the  patronage  of  Madame  de  Guercheville, 
and  in  1613  they  planted  a  Jesuit  station  at  Mount 
Desert  Island,  on  the  coast  of  Maine.1 

1  Charlevoix,  New  France  (Shea's  ed.)»  I..  247-263. 


288  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1608 

Champlain  did  not  return  to  Port  Royal,  but  was 
employed  in  another  direction.  In  April,  1608,  De 
Monts  sent  out  Champlain  and  Pontgrave  to  estab- 
lish a  colony  on  the  St.  Lawrence  and  traffic  with 
the  Indians  of  that  region.  Of  this  expedition 
Champlain  was  constituted  lieutenant-governor, 
and  he  was  successful  in  planting  a  settlement  at 
Quebec  in  July,  1608.  It  was  a  mere  trading-post, 
and  after  twenty  years  it  did  not  number  over  one 
hundred  persons.  But  Champlain  looked  to  the 
time  when  Canada  should  be  a  prosperous  province 
of  France,  and  he. was  tireless  and  persistent.  Aided 
by  several  devout  friars  of  the  Franciscan  order,  he 
labored  hard  to  Christianize  the  Indians  and  visited 
lakes  Champlain,  Nipissing,  Huron,  and  Ontario. 
While  he  made  the  fur  trade  of  great  value  to  the 
merchant  company  in  France,  he  committed  the 
fatal  mistake  of  mixing  up  with  Indian  quarrels. 
Between  the  Five  Nations  of  New  York  and  the 
Hurons  and  their  allies,  the  Algonquins  of  the  St. 
Lawrence,  perpetual  war  prevailed,  and  Champlain 
by  taking  sides  against  the  former  incurred  for  the 
French  the  lasting  hatred  of  those  powerful  Indians. 

The  progress  of  the  colony  was  not  satisfactory  to 
Champlain  or  to  the  authorities  in  France,  and  in 
1627  Cardinal  Richelieu  dissolved  the  company 
which  had  charge  of  affairs,  and  instituted  a  new 
one  with  himself  at  its  head.  In  the  spring  of  1628 
he  despatched  to  Canada  four  armed  vessels  and 
eighteen  transports  laden  with  emigrants,  stores, 


1629]  COLONIAL   NEIGHBORS  289 

and  cannon,  but  war  had  broken  out  between  the 
English  and  French  the  year  before,  and  on  their 
way  the  fleet  was  intercepted  and  the  ships  and 
goods  confiscated. 

The  English  had  not  recognized  the  claims  of  the 
French  to  any  part  of  the  North  American  continent, 
and  the  very  year  that  the  Jesuit  station  was  planted 
at  Mount  Desert  Island  Samuel  Argall  came  twice 
from  Virginia  and  burned  the  houses  of  the  intruding 
French  at  all  of  their  settlements  in  Acadia :  Mount 
Desert  Island,  Isle  de  Croix,  and  Port  Royal.  The 
French  rebuilt  Port  Royal,  and  at  the  death  of 
Poutrincourt's  son  Biencourt,  about  the  year  1623, 
his  possessions  and  claims  fell  to  his  friend  and  com- 
panion Claude  de  la  Tour. 

Meanwhile,  in  1621,  Sir  William  Alexander  ob- 
tained a  grant  from  King  James  for  New  Scotland, 
being  that  part  of  Acadia  now  comprising  the 
provinces  of  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick ;  *  and 
he  sent  over  from  time  to  time  a  few  Scotch  emi- 
grants. De  la  Tour  and  the  French  submitted,  and 
English  rule  seemed  firmly  established  in  Acadia 
when  war  was  declared  in  1628.  In  February,  1629, 
Alexander  received  a  patent  for  St.  Lawrence  River 
and  "  fifty  leagues  of  bounds  on  both  sides  thereof," 
and  on  both  sides  of  its  tributary  lakes  and  rivers 
as  far  as  the  Gulf  of  California.2 

After  the  failure  of  the  expedition  sent  by  Cardinal 
Richelieu,  Alexander  and  his  partners  despatched 

1  Maine  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  ad  series,  VII.,  57.        2  Ibid.,  82. 


290  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1629 

an  English  fleet  commanded  by  David  Kirke,  which 
appeared  before  Quebec  in  July,  1629.  Cham  plain 
and  his  small  garrison  were  compelled  to  surrender, 
and  all  New  France  fell  under  English  power.  Un- 
fortunately for  Alexander  and  Kirke,  war  between 
the  two  nations  had  ceased,  and  the  articles  of  peace 
provided  that  all  conquests  made  subsequent  to 
April  24,  1629,  should  be  restored  to  the  former 
owner.  This  insured  the  loss  of  Quebec  and  was 
the  forerunner  of  other  misfortunes.  In  1632  a 
treaty  was  made  at  St.  Germain  by  which,  despite 
the  protest  of  Sir  William  Alexander  and  a  memorial 
from  the  Scottish  Parliament,  King  Charles  consent- 
ed "to  give  up  and  restore  all  the  places  occupied 
in  New  France,  Acadia,  and  Canada  "  by  his  subjects.1 

In  1632  Champlain  returned  to  his  government  at 
Quebec,  and  with  him  arrived  a  number  of  zealous 
Jesuit  priests,  who  began  that  adventurous  career 
of  exploration  which,  after  Champlain's  death  in 
1635,  connected  the  fame  of  their  order  with  the 
great  lakes  and  the  Mississippi.  The  king  of  France 
appointed  Chevalier  Razilly  governor  of  Acadia, 
who  designated  as  his  lieutenants  Claude  de  la 
Tour's  son  Charles,  for  the  portion  west  of  St.  Croix; 
and  Charles  de  Menou,  Sieur  d'Aulnay  Charmise,  for 
the  portion  to  the  east.2  They  claimed  dominion 
for  France  as  far  as  Cape  Cod. 

Subsequently  the  two  rivals  quarrelled,  and  in 

1  Cat.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  pp.  119,  130. 

2  Hannay,  Acadia,  140. 


1641]  COLONIAL   NEIGHBORS  291 

1641  D'Aulnay  obtained  an  order  from  the  king 
deposing  De  la  Tour,  but  the  latter  refused  obedi- 
ence and  sent  an  envoy  to  Boston  in  November, 
1641,  to  solicit  aid.  This  envoy  was  kindly  treated, 
and  some  of  the  Puritan  merchants  despatched  a 
pinnace  to  trade  with  De  la  Tour;  but  they  met 
with  D'Aulnay  at  Pemaquid,  who  threatened  to 
make  prize  of  any  vessel  which  he  caught  engaged 
in  the  fur  trade  in  Acadia.1 

The  Dutch  claim  to  America  was  comparatively 
recent,  as  it  was  not  until  1597  that  voyages  were 
undertaken  from  Holland  to  the  continent.  In 
1602  the  Dutch  East  India  Company  was  charter- 
ed, and  in  1609  sent  out  Henry  Hudson,  an  Eng- 
lishman by  birth,  to  seek  a  way  to  India  by  the 
northeast.  After  sailing  to  Nova  Zembla,  where 
fogs  and  fields  of  ice  closed  against  him  the  strait 
of  Veigatz,  he  changed  his  course  for  Newfound- 
land and  coasted  southward  to  Chesapeake  Bay. 
Returning  on  his  path  he  entered  the  Hudson  in 
September,  1609,  and  stayed  four  weeks  exploring 
the  river  and  trafficking  with  the  natives.2 

The  reports  brought  by  him  to  Europe  of  a  newly 
discovered  country  abounding  in  fur-bearing  ani- 
mals created  much  interest,  and  in  1612  some  mer- 
chants in  Holland  sent  Christiansen  and  Blok  to  the 
island  of  Manhattan,  where  they  built  a  little  fort, 
which,  it  is  stated,  Argall  attacked  in  1613.  Losing 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  II.,  106,  109. 

2  Purchas,  Ptlgrimes,  III.,  581-596. 


292  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1612 

his  ship  by  fire,  Blok  built  a  yacht  of  sixteen  tons  at 
Manhattan,  and  with  this  small  craft  was  the  first 
explorer  (1614)  of  the  Connecticut  River.  He  also 
visited  Narragansett  Bay,  and  gave  to  its  shores  the 
name  of  Roode  Eiland  (now  Rhode  Island). 

After  his  return  home  the  merchants  obtained 
from  the  States-General  a  charter  for  three  years' 
monopoly  of  the  trade  of  New  Netherland,  as  the 
present  New  York  was  now  first  formally  called.  It 
was  defined  as  extending  between  New  France  and 
Virginia,  from  the  fortieth  to  the  forty -fifth  degree 
of  north  latitude.1  After  this  New  Netherland  con- 
tinued to  be  resorted  to  by  Dutch  traders,  though  no 
regular  settlement  was  formed  for  some  years. 

In  1619  Thomas  Dermer  visited  the  Hudson  and 
brought  news  to  England  of  the  operations  of  the 
Dutch  and  the  value  of  the  fur  trade.  Thereupon 
Captain  Samuel  Argall,  with  many  English  planters, 
prepared  to  make  a  settlement  on  the  Hudson,  and 
when  the  Dutch  government,  in  June,  1621,  char- 
tered the  Dutch  West  India  Company,  the  English 
court,  on  Argall's  complaint,  protested  against 
Dutch  intrusion  within  what  was  considered  the 
limits  of  Virginia.  The  States-General  at  first  evaded 
a  reply,  but  finally  declared  that  they  had  never 
authorized  any  settlement  on  the  Hudson.2  The 
charter,3  in  fact,  gave  the  company  only  an  ex- 


1  Brodhead,  New  York,  I.,  57-62. 

2  N.  Y.  Docs.  Rel.  to  Col.  Hist.,  III.,  6-8. 

3  Maine  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  2d  series,  VII.,  53-56. 


1631]  COLONIAL   NEIGHBORS  293 

elusive  right  to  trade  for  twenty-four  years  on  the 
coasts  of  Africa  and  America. 

Nevertheless,  the  company  proceeded  to  send 
over,  in  1622,  a  number  of  French  Walloons,  who 
constituted  the  first  Dutch  colony  in  America.  One 
party,  under  the  command  of  Captain  Cornelius 
Jacobson  May,  the  first  Dutch  governor,  sailed  to 
the  vSouth,  or  Delaware  River,  where,  four  miles  be- 
low the  present  Philadelphia,  they  erected  a  fort 
called  Nassau;  and  another  party  under  Adrian 
Joris  went  up  the  Hudson,  and  on  the  site  of  Albany 
built  Fort  Orange.  Peter  Minuit  succeeded  May  in 
1626,  and  bought  from  the  Indians  the  whole  of 
Manhattan  Island,  and  organized  a  government 
with  an  advisory  council. 

The  population  of  New  Netherland  was  only  two 
hundred,  and  though  trade  was  brisk  there  was  little 
agriculture.  The  company  met  this  difficulty  by 
obtaining  a  new  charter  and  seeking  to  promote 
emigration  by  dividing  up  the  country  among  some 
great  patroons:  Samuel  Godyn,  Killiaen  van  Rens- 
salaer,  Michael  Pauw,  David  Pieterson  de  Vries,  and 
other  rich  men.  In  1631  De  Vries  settled  Swaanen- 
dael,  on  the  South  River,  as  the  Dutch  called  the 
Delaware ;  but  in  a  few  months  the  Indians  attacked 
the  place  and  massacred  the  settlers.1  Soon  the 
patroons  became  rivals  of  the  West  India  Company 
in  the  fur  trade,  and  in  1632  Minuit,  who  favored 
them,  was  recalled  and  Wouter  van  Twiller  was 

1  N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  ad  series,  III.,  16,  22. 


294  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1631 

made  governor.  His  accession  marks  the  first  real 
clash  between  the  rival  claims  of  the  Dutch  and 
English.1 

In  1632  Lord  Baltimore  obtained  a  patent  for 
Maryland  which  included  all  the  south  side  of  Dela- 
ware Bay  and  river ;  and  a  month  later  Sir  Edmund 
Plowden  obtained  a  grant  from  the  English  king  for 
"  Long  Isle  and  also  forty  leagues  square  of  the  ad- 
joining continent,"  including  the  very  site  of  Man- 
hattan.2 In  April,  1633,  Jacob  Eelkens,  in  com- 
mand of  an  English  vessel,  forced  his  way  past  Fort 
Amsterdam,  on  Manhattan  Island,  and  traded  with 
the  Indians,  until  the  incompetent  Van  Twiller  at 
length  stripped  him  of  his  goods  and  drove  him 
from  the  river.3  The  same  year  Van  Twiller,  as 
we  have  seen,  planted  a  fort  near  the  site  of  the 
present  city  of  Hartford,  which  served  as  the  seed 
of  future  troubles. 

In  1634  Captain  Thomas  Young  visited  the  Dela- 
ware and  lorded  it  over  the  Dutch  vessels  which 
he  found  in  the  river.4  Then  in  1635,  while  set- 
tlers from  Massachusetts  poured  into  Connecticut, 
and  the  Council  for  New  England,  preliminary  to  its 
dissolution,  assigned  Long  Island,  despite  the  Dutch 
claim,  to  Sir  William  Alexander,  men  came  from 
Virginia  to  Delaware  Bay  and  seized  Fort  Nassau, 
then  abandoned  by  the  Dutch;  but  Van  Twiller 

1  Brodhead,  New  York,  I.,  222. 

2  Cat.  of  State  Pap.,  Col.,  1574-1660,  p.  154. 

3  Brodhead,  New  York,  I.,  230. 

4  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  4th  series,  IX.,  125-128 


1640]  COLONIAL    NEIGHBORS  295 

soon  drove  them  away.1  Thus  step  by  step  English 
progress  encroached  upon  the  territories  of  the  Dutch. 

In  1638  Van  Twiller  was  recalled  and  William 
Kieft  was  sent  over.  He  had  to  deal  with  Swedes  as 
well  as  English,  for  in  1626  King  Gustavus  Adolphus 
was  persuaded  by  Usselinx,  an  Amsterdam  mer- 
chant, to  form  the  Swedish  West  India  Company, 
and  after  his  death  Oxenstierna,  his  prime-minister, 
renewed  the  scheme.  In  1638  he  sent  out  a  Swedish 
expedition  under  Peter  Minuit,  the  late  governor  of 
New  Netherland,  who  established  a  fort  on  the  Dela- 
ware near  the  present  Wilmington,  and  called  it 
"Christina,"  and  the  Swedes  paid  no  attention  to 
the  protest  of  Governor  Kieft.2 

In  1640  a  party  of  English  settlers  from  New 
Haven  obtained  deeds  to  the  soil  on  Long  Island 
from  Farrett,  agent  of  Sir  William  Alexander,  and 
settled  at  Southold ;  and  another  party  from  Massa- 
chusetts, more  daring  still,  settled  at  Schouts  Bay, 
almost  opposite  to  Manhattan.  When  a  force  of 
Dutch  troops  was  sent  against  them  they  retired  to 
the  east  end  of  the  island  and  settled  Southampton. 
A  more  adventuresome  proceeding  was  attempted 
in  1641  when  another  party  from  New  Haven  took 
the  Dutch  in  the  flank  by  settling  on  the  Delaware. 
Dutch  and  Swedes  united  to  drive  the  intruders  away. 
As  if  these  were  not  troubles  enough,  Kieft,  in  1642, 
provoked  war  with  the  Indians  all  along  the  Hudson, 

1  N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  26.  series,  III.,  77. 

2  Winsor,  Narr.  and  Crit.  Hist.,  IV.,  443-452. 


NEW  SWEDEN 

AND 
NEW  NETHERLAND 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

THE   NEW    ENGLAND   CONFEDERATION 
(1643-1654) 

THESE  Dutch  settlements  brought  about  a 
political  union  of  the  New  England  colonies, 
although  the  first  cause  of  the  New  England  con- 
federation was  the  Indian  tribes  who  lay  between 
the  Dutch  and  the  English.  In  August,  1637,  dur- 
ing the  war  with  the  Pequots,  some  of  the  Con- 
necticut magistrates  and  ministers  suggested  to  the 
authorities  at  Boston  the  expediency  of  such  a  meas- 
ure. The  next  year  Massachusetts  submitted  a 
plan  of  union,  but  Connecticut  demurred  because 
it  permitted  a  mere  majority  of  the  federal  com- 
missioners to  decide  questions.  Thereupon  Massa- 
chusetts injected  the  boundary  question  into  the  dis- 
cussions, and  proposed  an  article  not  relished  by 
Connecticut,  that  the  Pequot  River  should  be  the 
line  between  the  two  jurisdictions.1  Thus  the  mat- 
ter lay  in  an  unsettled  state  till  the  next  year,  when 
jealousy  of  the  Dutch  stimulated  renewed  action. 

In  1639  John  Haynes,  of  Connecticut,  and  Rev. 
Thomas  Hooker  came  to  Boston,  and  again  the  plan 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  I.,  283,  342-344. 
2Q7 


298  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1642 

of  a  confederation  was  discussed,  but  Plymouth 
and  Massachusetts  quarrelled  over  their  boundary- 
line,  and  the  desirable  event  was  once  more  post- 
poned. Nearly  three  more  years  passed,  and  the 
founding  of  a  confederacy  was  still  delayed.  Then, 
at  a  general  court  held  at  Boston,  September  27, 
1642,  letters  from  Connecticut  were  read  "certifying 
us  that  the  Indians  all  over  the  country  had  com- 
bined themselves  to  cut  off  all  the  English." 

At  this  time  the  war  between  De  la  Tour  and 
D'Aulnay  was  at  its  height,  and  the  Dutch  com- 
plaints added  to  the  general  alarm.  Thus  the  Con- 
necticut proposition  for  a  league  received  a  more 
favorable  consideration  and  was  referred  to  a  com- 
mittee "to  consider"  after  the  court.  At  the  next 
general  court  which  met  in  Boston,  May  10,  1643, 
a  compact  of  confederation  in  writing  was  duly 
signed  by  commissioners  from  Plymouth,  Massachu- 
setts, Connecticut,  and  New  Haven.1  The  settle- 
ment of  Gorges  and  Mason  at  Piscataqua  and  the 
plantations  about  Narragansett  Bay  were  denied 
admission  into  the  confederacy — the  former  "be- 
cause they  ran  a  different  course  from  us  both  in 
their  ministry  and  administration,"  2  and  the  latter 
because  they  were  regarded  as  "tumultuous"  and 
"schismatic." 

After  a  preamble  setting  forth  that  "we  live  en- 
compassed with  people  of  several  nations  and  strange 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  II.,  95,  99,  102,  121-127. 
9  Ibid.,  121. 


1643]     NEW   ENGLAND   CONFEDERATION       299 

languages,"  that  "  the  savages  have  of  late  combined 
themselves  against  us,"  and  that  "the  sad  distrac- 
tions" in  England  prevent  the  hope  of  advice  and 
protection,"  the  document  states  that  the  contract- 
ing parties'  object  was  to  maintain  "a  firm  and 
perpetual  league  of  friendship  and  amity,  for  offence 
and  defence,  mutual  advice  and  succor  upon  all 
just  occasions  both  for  preserving  and  propagating 
the  truth  and  liberties  of  the  gospel,  and  for  their 
own  mutual  safety  and  waif  are."  It  then  declared 
the  name  of  the  new  confederation  to  be  "  the  United 
Colonies  of  New  England,"  and  in  ten  articles  set 
out  the  organization  and  powers  of  the  federal 
government.  The  management  was  placed  in  the 
hands  of  eight  commissioners,  two  for  each  colony, 
"all  in  church-fellowship  with  us,"  who  were  to 
hold  an  annual  meeting  in  each  of  the  colonies  by 
rotation,  and  to  have  power  by  a  vote  of  six  "to 
determine  all  affairs  of  war  or  peace,  leagues,  aids, 
charges,  and  number  of  men  for  war,  division  of 
spoils,  or  whatever  is  gotten  by  conquest,"  the  ad- 
mission of  new  confederates,  etc.  All  public  charges 
were  to  be  paid  by  contributions  levied  on  the  col- 
onies proportioned  to  the  number  of  inhabitants 
in  each  colony  between  sixteen  and  sixty ;  and  for 
this  purpose  a  census  was  to  be  taken  at  stated 
times  by  the  commissioners.  In  domestic  affairs  the 
federal  government  was  not  to  interfere,  but  each 
colony  was  guaranteed  the  integrity  of  its  territory 
and  local  jurisdiction. 


300  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1643 

Two  defects  were  apparent  in  this  constitution: 
the  federal  government  had  no  authority  to  act  di- 
rectly upon  individuals,  and  thus  it  had  no  coercive 
power ;  the  equal  number  of  votes  allowed  the  mem- 
bers of  the  confederation  in  the  federal  council  was 
a  standing  contradiction  of  the  measure  of  contri- 
bution to  the  burdens  of  government.  The  con- 
federacy contained  a  population  of  about  twenty- 
three  thousand  five  hundred  souls,  of  which  number 
fifteen  thousand  may  be  assigned  to  Massachusetts, 
three  thousand  each  to  Connecticut  and  Plymouth, 
and  two  thousand  five  hundred  to  New  Haven. 
Massachusetts,  with  two  out  of  eight  commissioners, 
possessed  a  population  greater  than  that  of  the  other 
three  colonies  combined. 

There  was  really  no  Indian  combination  in  1643 
against  the  colonists,  but  the  rivalry  between  the 
Narragansetts  and  the  Mohegans  gave  grounds  for 
uneasiness.  After  the  death  of  Miantonomoh,  under 
the  circumstances  already  related,  the  fear  of  an 
Indian  attack  was  temporarily  removed.  But  the 
Narragansetts  were  grief -stricken  over  the  loss  of 
their  chieftain  and  thought  only  of  revenge  upon  the 
hated  Uncas  and  his  Indians,  at  whose  door  they 
laid  all  the  blame.  To  give  opportunity  for  intended 
operations,  they  made  Gorton  and  others  inter- 
mediaries for  a  complete  cession  of  their  country  to 
the  king  of  England,  in  April,  1644.  Then,  when 
summoned  by  the  general  court  of  Massachusetts 
to  Boston,  Canonicus  and  Pessacus,  the  two  leading 


1645]     NEW  ENGLAND   CONFEDERATION       301 

chiefs,  pleaded  the  king's  jurisdiction  and  declined 
to  appear.1  Two  envoys  sent  by  the  general  court 
in  May,  1644,  to  the  wigwam  of  Canonicus,  were 
compelled  to  stay  out  in  the  rain  for  two  hours  be- 
fore being  admitted,  and  Pessacus,  instead  of  giv- 
ing them  satisfaction,  persisted  in  his  threat  of 
hostilities  against  Uncas,  agreeing  only  not  to  at- 
tack Uncas  "  till  after  next  plan  ting- time,"  nor  then 
till  after  due  notice  given  to  the  English.2 

The  truce  did  not  restrain  the  Narragansetts,  and 
in  the  spring  of  1645  they  attacked  the  Mohegans 
and  defeated  them,  and  thereupon  the  federal  com- 
missioners, in  July,  1645,  met  at  Boston,  and  upon 
the  refusal  of  the  Narragansetts  to  make  peace  with 
Uncas  they  made  preparations  for  war.  A  force  of 
three  hundred  men  was  raised,  one  hundred  and 
ninety  from  Massachusetts,  forty  each  from  Plym- 
outh and  Connecticut,  and  thirty  from  New  Haven. 

Upon  the  question  of  appointment  of  a  com- 
mander-in-chief  colonial  independence  came  in  con- 
flict with  federal  supremacy.  In  1637  Massachu- 
setts was  the  champion  of  the  principle  that  all  ques- 
tions should  be  decided  by  a  simple  majority  vote 
of  the  commissioners;  but  now  the  Massachusetts 
general  court  asserted  that  no  appointment  of  a 
commander  should  be  valid  without  their  confirma- 
tion. The  federal  commissioners  stood  stoutly  for 
their  rights,  and  the  issue  was  evaded  for  a  time  by 

1  Simplicities  Defence  (Force,  Tracts,  IV.,  No.  vi.,  93). 

2  Winthrop,  New  England,  II.,  203,  243,  301,  463. 

VOL.    IV. — 21 


302  ENGLAND    IN    AMERICA  [1643 

the  appointment  of  Major  Gibbons,  who  was  a  citi- 
zen of  Massachusetts. 

The  report  of  these  warlike  preparations  brought 
the  Narragansetts  to  terms ;  but  uneasiness  still  con- 
tinued, and  the  subsequent  years,  though  free  from 
bloodshed,  were  full  of  rumors  and  reports  of  hos- 
tilities, compelling  frequently  the  interference  of 
the  commissioners  in  behalf  of  their  friend  Uncas. 
In  all  these  troubles1  the  question  is  not  so  much 
the  propriety  of  the  particular  measures  of  the  fed- 
eral commissioners  as  their  conduct  in  making  the 
confederation  a  party  to  the  disputes  of  the  Indians 
among  themselves.  The  time  finally  came  when 
Uncas,  "the  friend  of  the  white  man,"  was  regarded 
by  his  former  admirers  as  a  hopeless  marplot  and 
intriguer. 

More  commendable  were  the  services  of  the  fed- 
eral commissioners  with  the  Indians  in  another  par- 
ticular. One  of  the  professed  designs  of  the  charter 
of  Massachusetts  was  to  Christianize  the  heathen 
savages,  but  more  than  twelve  years  elapsed  after 
the  coming  of  Winthrop  and  his  colonists  before 
New  England  was  the  scene  of  anything  like  mission- 
ary work.  Then  the  first  mission  was  established  in 
1643  by  Thomas  Mayhew  at  the  island  of  Martha's 
Vineyard,  which  was  not  included  in  any  of  the  New 
England  governments  and  was  under  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  Sir  William  Alexander.  In  1651  Mayhew 
reported  that  one  hundred  and  ninety-nine  men, 

1  Plymouth  Col.  Records,  IX.,  32-49. 


1649]     NEW   ENGLAND    CONFEDERATION       303 

women,  and  children  of  Martha's  Vineyard  and 
Nan  tucket  were  "  worshippers  of  the  great  and  ever 
living  God/' 

His  example  was  followed  by  John  Eliot,  the  min- 
ister of  Roxbury,  in  Massachusetts,  who  learned  to 
speak  the  Indian  tongue,  and  in  1646  preached  to 
the  Indians  near  Watertown.  The  Massachusetts 
general  court  a  week  later  endorsed  the  purposes 
of  Eliot  by  enacting  that  the  church  should  take 
care  to  send  two  ministers  among  the  Indians  every 
year  to  make  known  to  them  by  the  help  of  an  inter- 
preter "the  heavenly  counsel  of  God."  In  four 
years  two  colonies  of  Indians  were  established,  one 
at  Nonantum  and  the  other  at  Concord.  But  the 
converts  were  still  under  the  influence  of  their 
sagamores,  who  were  hostile  to  Eliot's  schemes,  and 
in  1651  he  removed  his  Indians  to  Natick,  on  the 
Charles  River,  where  they  might  be  free  from  all 
heathenish  subjection. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  intelligence  of  what  was  tak- 
ing place  was  communicated  to  Edward  Winslow, 
the  agent  of  the  colony  in  England.  He  brought  the 
matter  to  the  attention  of  Parliament,  and  July  19, 
1649,  an  ordinance  was  passed  incorporating  "the 
society  for  the  promoting  and  propagating  of  the 
gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  in  New  England."  This 
society  selected  the  federal  commissioners  as  the 
managers  of  the  fund  which  flowed  into  them  from 
persons  charitably  inclined,  and  in  seven  years  the 
sums  which  were  remitted  to  New  England  amounted 


304  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1643 

to  more  than  £1700.  The  commissioners  laid  out 
the  money  in  paying  Eliot  and  Mayhew  and  other 
teachers,  in  printing  catechisms  in  the  Indian  lan- 
guage, and  providing  the  Indian  converts  with  im- 
plements of  labor.  By  1674  the  number  of  these 
"  pray  ing  Indians,"  as  they  were  called,  was  esti- 
mated at  four  thousand.1 

The  commissioners  also  rendered  many  services 
in  the  domestic  affairs  of  the  colonies.  In  order  to 
secure  the  claim  which  she  had  advanced  in  1637 
to  the  Pequot  River  as  her  southern  boundary,  Mas- 
sachusetts in  1644  authorized  John  Win throp,  Jr.,  to 
plant  a  colony  on  Pequot  Bay  at  a  spot  called  Na- 
meaug,  now  New  London.2  The  Connecticut  gov- 
ernment protested  against  the  authority  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  in  1647  the  commissioners  decided  that 
"the  jurisdiction  of  the  plantation  doth  and  ought 
to  belong  to  Connecticut."  3  This  decision,  how- 
ever, only  settled  the  ownership  of  a  particular  place, 
and  the  exact  southern  and  northern  boundaries  of 
Connecticut  remained  for  several  years  a  matter  of 
contention. 

In  another  matter  of  internal  interest  the  influ- 
ence of  the  confederacy  was  manifested.  Among 
other  considerations  for  the  cession  of  the  Saybrook 
fort,  Fen  wick  was  promised  the  proceeds  for  the 

1  Palfrey,   New  England,   II.,   187-198,  332-341,   III.,   141,* 

Hutchinson,  Massachusetts  Bay,  I.,  153. 

2  Winthrop,  New  England,  II.,  325. 

3  Palfrey,  New  England,  II.,  234. 


1 649]     NEW   ENGLAND   CONFEDERATION       305 

term  of  ten  years  of  a  duty  on  all  corn,  biscuit, 
beaver,  and  cattle  exported  from  the  Connecticut 
River.1  March  4,  1645,  the  general  court  of  Con- 
necticut passed  an  act  to  carry  out  their  promise; 
but  as  the  law  affected  the  trade  of  Springfield  on 
the  upper  waters  of  the  Connecticut  River  as  much 
as  that  of  the  Connecticut  towns,  Springfield  pro- 
tested, and  appealed  to  the  protection  of  Massachu- 
setts. Thereupon  the  general  court  of  that  colony 
lodged  a  vigorous  complaint  with  the  federal  com- 
missioners, and  the  cause  was  patiently  heard  by 
them  at  two  separate  meetings.  Massachusetts  had, 
doubtless,  the  right  on  her  side,  but  the  Connecticut 
contention  rested  on  what  was  international  usage 
at  the  time. 

The  result  of  the  deliberation  of  the  commissioners 
was  a  decision  in  July,  1647,  in  favor  of  Connecticut. 
This  was  far  from  satisfying  Massachusetts,  and  she 
reopened  the  question  in  September,  1648.  To 
enforce  her  arguments,  she  offered  certain  amend- 
ments to  the  confederation,  which,  if  adopted,  would 
have  shorn  the  commissioners  of  pretty  nearly  all 
their  authority.  But  the  commissioners  stood  firm, 
and  declared  that  "they  found  not  sufficient  cause 
to  reverse  what  was  done  last  year."  2 

Feeling  on  both  sides  had  now  become  quite  em- 
bittered. At  a  special  meeting  of  the  federal  com- 
missioners in  July,  1649,  Massachusetts  renewed  her 

1  Trumbull,  Connecticut,  I.,  508. 

2  Ibid.,  165,  166;  Palfrey,  New  England,  II.,  240-249. 


3o6  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1643 

objections,  and  during  the  discussions  her  com- 
missioners produced  an  order,1  passed  two  months 
before  by  their  general  court,  which,  reciting  the 
decision  against  Springfield,  laid  a  tax  upon  all  ar- 
ticles imported  to  Boston  from  any  one  of  the  other 
three  confederate  colonies,  or  exported  to  them 
from  "any  part  of  the  Bay."  This  proceeding  was 
justly  interpreted  by  the  federal  commissioners  to 
mean  not  only  a  retaliation  upon  Connecticut  for 
the  Saybrook  tax,  but  a  punishment  upon  the  other 
two  colonies — Plymouth  and  New  Haven — for  tak- 
ing her  side  in  the  court  of  the  confederation. 

The  commissioners  acted  with  dignified  firmness, 
and  forwarded  to  Massachusetts  a  remonstrance  in 
which  they  pointedly  desired  "to  be  spared  in  all 
further  agitations  concerning  Springfield."  2  Mas- 
sachusetts reluctantly  yielded  and  the  next  year 
repealed  her  impost,3  while  Connecticut  continued 
to  tax  the  trade  of  Springfield  till  the  ten  years 
expired.  Whether  the  tax  imposed  by  Connecticut 
was  right  or  not,  Massachusetts  had,  nevertheless, 
gone  dangerously  near  to  nullification  in  these  pro- 
ceedings. 

Not  less  interesting  is  the  history  of  the  dealings  of 
the  commissioners  with  the  French  and  Dutch.  En- 
couraged by  the  favor  which  had  been  extended  to 
him  in  Massachusetts,  De  la  Tour  arrived  in  person 


1  Mass.  Col.  Records,  III.,  152. 

2  Plymouth  Col.  Records,  IX.,  158. 

3  Mass.  Col.  Records,  IV.,  pt.  i.,  n. 


1 643]     NEW   ENGLAND   CONFEDERATION        307 

in  Boston,  June  12,  1643,  to  crave  assistance  against 
D' Aulnay,  his  rival.  As,  notwithstanding  the  French 
king's  order  of  the  previous  year,  he  showed  a  com- 
mission from  the  vice-admiral  of  France  which 
styled  him  as  lieutenant-general  of  Acadia,  Governor 
Winthrop,  influenced  by  the  merchants  of  Boston, 
whose  cupidity  was  excited  by  the  valuable  fur 
trade  of  Acadia,  permitted  him  to  hire  both  men  and 
shipping  in  Massachusetts.  When  his  preparations 
were  completed  he  sailed  away,  accompanied  by  a 
fleet  of  four  ships  and  a  pinnace,  the  property  of  two 
intimate  friends  of  the  governor — Major  Gibbons  and 
Captain  Hawkins — the  latter  of  whom  went  along 
in  charge  of  the  Puritan  contingent.1 

In  permitting  this  expedition  Winthrop  not  only 
violated  the  articles  of  confederation  and  the  laws 
of  neutrality,  but  exposed  himself  to  the  reproach  of 
Endicott  and  some  of  the  more  straitlaced  elders, 
that  he  consorted  with  "idolators"  and  "anti- 
christs," as  Puritans  chose  to  call  Roman  Catholics. 
It  seems  that  Winthrop  and  his  Boston  friends  did 
not  intend  to  do  more  than  to  restore  De  la  Tour 
to  St.  Johns,  which  D'Aulnay  was  then  besieging. 
But  the  original  wrong  had  its  natural  result.  When 
D'Aulnay  saw  his  rival's  formidable  fleet  approach- 
ing he  promptly  raised  the  blockade  and  made 
haste  to  get  under  the  protection  of  his  stronghold 
at  Port  Royal.  De  la  Tour  followed  and  attacked, 
and,  though  he  failed  to  dislodge  his  enemy,  with 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  II.,  128,  130,  153. 


308  ENGLAND   IN  AMERICA  [1644 

the  assistance  of  the  Boston  men  he  killed  several  of 
D'Aulnay 's  soldiers,  burned  his  mill,  and  did  much 
other  damage. 

After  this,  while  D'Aulnay  went  to  France  to  get 
fresh  orders  from  the  king  against  his  rival,  De  la 
Tour  came  to  Massachusetts  in  May,  1644,  in  hopes 
of  again  interesting  the  Puritans  there  in  his  fortunes. 
But  John  Endicott  had  been  elected  governor  in  the 
place  of  Winthrop,  and  all  the  cheer  De  la  Tour 
could  get  in  return  for  permitting  free-trade  was  the 
promise  of  a  letter  addressed  to  D'Aulnay  urging 
peace  with  De  la  Tour  and  protesting  against  the 
capture  of  Massachusetts'  trading  vessels.1 

In  September,  1644,  the  federal  commissioners 
met  at  Hartford,  and  showed  dislike  of  the  conduct 
of  ex-Governor  Winthrop  by  passing  a  resolution  to 
the  effect  that  "no  jurisdiction  within  this  confed- 
eration shall  permit  any  voluntaries  to  go  forth  in 
a  warlike  way  against  any  people  whatever  without 
order  and  direction  of  the  commissioners  of  the  other 
jurisdictions."  In  the  mean  while,  D'Aulnay  came 
back  from  France  with  fresh  orders  from  the  king 
for  the  arrest  of  De  la  Tour,  and  in  October,  1644, 
sent  to  Boston  an  envoy  with  the  new  credentials. 
The  Massachusetts  authorities  were  reluctant  to 
abandon  De  la  Tour,  but  seeing  no  alternative  they 
made  a  treaty  for  free-trade,  subject  to  confirma- 
tion by  the  federal  commissioners.2 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  II.,   163,  180,  219,  220. 

2  Plymouth  Col.  Records,  IX.,  59.' 


1648]     NEW -ENGLAND   CONFEDERATION       309 

Still  the  ties  that  bound  the  Boston  merchants 
to  De  la  Tour  were  not  wholly  dissolved  even  now. 
They  gave  an  asylum  to  De  la  Tour's  wife  at  Bos- 
ton, and  sent  her  with  supplies  to  his  fort  at  Port 
Royal;  and  when  the  fort  succumbed  under  D'Aul- 
nay's  attack  they  fitted  her  husband  out  with  a 
ship  and  truck  for  trading.  At  last  De  la  Tour's 
dealings  thoroughly  opened  their  eyes.  When  the 
ship  came  to  Cape  Sable,  De  la  Tour  and  his  French- 
men suddenly  arose  against  the  English  crew,  put 
them  out  in  the  woods,  and  seized  and  appropriated 
the  vessel  and  cargo.  Prominent  among  those  who 
had  lent  money  and  influence  to  De  la  Tour  was 
Major  Edward  Gibbons,  who  lost  upward  of  £2500. 

D'Aulnay  retaliated  and  took  a  ship  belonging  to 
Massachusetts,  and  in  September,  1646,  a  new  treaty 
was  made  with  him  by  envoys  representing  the  con- 
federacy. The  English  made  a  formal  acknowledg- 
ment of  error,  and  the  French  accepted  in  full  satis- 
faction a  present  to  D'Aulnay  of  a  sedan-chair, 
which  had  been  sent  as  a  present  by  the  viceroy  of 
Mexico  to  his  sister,  but  was  captured  in  the  West 
Indies  by  Cromwell  and  given  by  him  to  Governor 
Winthrop.1 

In  1648  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  applied  to  the 
French  officials  at  Quebec  for  a  reciprocity  of  trade. 
As  the  Iroquois  had  proved  very  destructive  to  the 
French  and  their  Algonquin  and  Huron  allies,  the 
French  governor  caught  at  the  plan  of  granting  the 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  II.,  244,  335. 


310  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1643 

desired  privileges  in  return  for  military  aid.  Ac- 
cordingly, in  1650,  the  French  governor,  D'Aille- 
bout,  sent  the  Jesuit  father  Druillettes,  who  had 
acted  as  missionary  among  the  Algonquins  of  Maine, 
as  envoy  to  Boston  to  negotiate  a  treaty.1  But 
Massachusetts  did  not  repeat  the  error  of  former 
times,  and  would  do  nothing  without  consent  of 
the  federal  commissioners.  To  them,  therefore, 
the  matter  was  referred,  with  the  result  that  the 
commissioners  declined  to  involve  the  confederacy 
in  a  war  with  the  Iroquois  by  authorizing  any 
assistance  to  be  given  the  French  privately  or  offi- 
cially.2 

In  the  relations  with  the  Dutch  the  temperate 
and  conservative  force  in  the  confederacy  was  Mas- 
sachusetts, who  took  steady  ground  for  peace  and 
opposed  hostile  measures.  In  doing  so,  however, 
she  went  the  whole  length  of  nullification  and  al- 
most broke  up  the  confederacy.  William  Kieft, 
the  governor  of  New  Netherland  (1637-1647), 
seemed  to  recognize  at  once  the  significance  of  the 
confederacy  as  well  as  the  importance  of  making 
friends  with  Massachusetts;  and  in  July,  1643,  be- 
fore the  commissioners  had  time  to  hold  their  first 
meeting,  he  wrote  a  letter  of  congratulations  to 
Governor  Winthrop,  which  he  loaded,  however,  with 
complaints  against  Connecticut  for  intruding  upon 
the  land  of  the  Dutch  fort  at  Hartford.  Governor 

1  Parkman,  Jesuits,  327—335. 

2  Hutchinson,  Massachusetts  Bay,  I.,  156-158. 


1645]     NEW   ENGLAND   CONFEDERATION       311 

Winthrop  in  reply  assured  Kieft  that  the  influence 
of  Massachusetts  would  be  on  the  side  of  peace,  for 
that  "the  ground  of  difference  being  only  a  small 
parcel  of  land  "  was  a  matter  of  too  small  value  to 
cause  a  breach  between  two  people  so  nearly  related 
as  the  Dutch  and  English. 

When  the  federal  commissioners  met  in  Sep- 
tember they  showed  a  hostile  spirit,  and  addressed 
vehement  letters  to  the  Swedish  and  Dutch  on  ac- 
count of  their  "  foul  injuries"  offered  the  New  Haven 
settlers  on  the  Delaware.  In  March,  1644,  letters 
came  from  the  Swedes  and  Dutch  full  of  expressions 
of  regard  for  the  English  and  "particularly  for  Mas- 
sachusetts." They  promised  to  refrain  from  inter- 
fering with  visitors  who  should  bring  authority  from 
the  commissioners,  which  so  encouraged  some  Boston 
merchants  that  they  sent  to  the  Delaware  a  pinnace 
to  search  for  a  great  lake  reported  to  be  its  source. 
But  when  they  arrived  at  the  Delaware,  the  Swedish 
and  Dutch  governors,  while  telling  the  captain  that  he 
might  go  up  the  river  as  far  as  he  chose,  prohibited 
him  from  any  trafficking  with  the  Indians,  which 
caused  the  return  of  the  pinnace  to  Boston.  After 
this  the  war  which  Kieft  provoked  with  the  Indians 
so  occupied  the  Dutch  that  for  two  years  they  had 
no  time  to  give  attention  to  their  English  neighbors. 
So  hard  pressed  were  they  that,  instead  of  making 
further  reclamations  on  New  Haven,  they  earnestly 
but  unsuccessfully  solicited  her  aid.  After  great 
losses  to  both  the  Dutch  and  the  Indians  the  Mo- 


312  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1645 

• 

hawks  intervened  as  arbitrators,  and  brought  about 
a  peace  in  September,  1645. l 

In  1646  the  men  of  New  Haven  set  up  a  trading- 
house  near  the  mouth  of  the  Housatonic,  and  there- 
upon Kieft  wrote  to  the  commissioners,  who  met  at 
New  Haven  in  April,  1646,  a  blustering  letter  of 
which  the  following  is  a  good  sample:  "We  protest 
against  all  you  commissioners  met  at  the  Red  Mount 
(New  Haven)  as  against  breakers  of  the  common 
league,  and  also  infringers  of  the  rights  of  the  lords, 
the  states,  our  superiors,  in  that  you  have  dared, 
without  our  express  and  especial  consent,  to  hold 
your  general  meeting  within  the  limits  of  New  Neth- 
erland."  2  At  the  close  of  Kieft's  administration 
in  1647  the  whole  province  of  New  Netherland  could 
furnish  not  more  than  three  hundred  fighting-men 
and  contained  a  population  of  not  more  than  two 
thousand.  Compared  with  the  population  of  New 
England  these  figures  seem  insignificant  enough,  and 
render  highly  improbable  the  story  popular  with 
some  New  England  historians  that  the  Dutch  were 
enlisted  in  a  great  scheme  of  uprooting  the  English 
colonies. 

In  1647  Peter  Stuyvesant  was  sent  over  as  gov- 
ernor. He  had  the  sense  to  see  that  the  real  safety 
of  the  Dutch  consisted  not  in  bluster,  but  in  settling 
a  line  between  the  possessions  of  the  two  nations 
as  soon  as  possible.  The  charter  of  the  West  India 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  II.,  155,  157,  169,  189,  193,  229; 
Brodhead,  New  York,  I.,  409.  2  Trumbull,  Connecticut,  I.,  158. 


1650]     NEW   ENGLAND   CONFEDERATION       313 

Company  called  for  the  territory  between  forty  and 
forty-five  degrees  north  latitude,  but  to  assert  the 
full  extent  of  the  gatent  would  have  been  to  claim 
the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts.  Accordingly, 
Stuyvesant,  soon  after  his  arrival,  addressed  a 
letter  to  Governor  Winthrop,  asserting  the  Dutch 
claim  to  all  the  land  between  the  Connecticut  and 
Delaware  and  proposing  a  conference.  But  it  is 
evident  that  in  claiming  the  Connecticut  he  was 
actuated  more  by  a  hope  of  deterring  the  further 
aggressions  of  English  settlers  than  otherwise.  The 
federal  commissioners  returned  a  polite  reply,  but 
showed  no  anxiety  to  come  to  an  accommodation. 
Soon  after  a  fresh  quarrel  broke  out  with  New  Haven, 
and  in  March,  1648,  Stuyvesant  wrote  to  the  gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts  offering  to  submit  to  him 
and  the  governor  of  Plymouth  the  matter  in  dis- 
pute. He  then  wrote  home  for  instructions,  and  as 
diplomatic  relations  between  England  and  Holland 
were  suspended,  the  West  India  Company  bade  him 
make  such  terms  as  he  could  with  his  English  neigh- 
bors.1 

Accordingly,  in  September,  1650,  Stuyvesant  vis- 
ited Hartford  while  the  federal  commissioners  were 
in  session  there.  The  discussions  were  carried  on  in 
writing,  and  Stuyvesant  dated  his  letter  at  "New 
Netherland."  The  federal  commissioners  declined 
to  receive  this  letter,  and  Stuyvesant  changed  the 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  II.,  382,  395;  Brodhead,  New  York, 
I,  499- 


314  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1650 

address  to  "  Connecticut."  This  proving  satisfac- 
tory to  the  commissioners,  Stuyvesant  set  out  his 
territorial  claim  and  the  imputed  wrongs  suffered  by 
the  Dutch  from  the  English,  and  the  federal  com- 
missioners rejoined  in  a  similar  manner.  Then  Stuy- 
vesant proposed  to  refer  the  question  in  dispute  to 
four  arbitrators,  all  Englishmen,  two  to  be  appointed 
by  himself  and  two  by  the  federal  commissioners. 

The  offer  was  accepted,  and  after  a  full  hearing 
by  these  arbitrators,  Thomas  Willet,  George  Baxter, 
Simon  Bradstreet,  and  Thomas  Prince,  declined  to 
decide  upon  the  wrongs  complained  of  by  either 
party  and  rendered  an  award  upon  the  territorial 
question  only.  They  decided  that  the  Dutch  should 
retain  their  fort  on  the  Connecticut,  and  that  the 
boundary  should  begin  at  a  point  on  the  west  side  of 
Greenwich  Bay,  about  four  miles  from  Stamford, 
and  run  due  north  twenty  miles.  From  that  point 
it  should  be  extended  as  the  Dutch  and  New  Haven 
might  agree,  provided  that  the  line  should  not  come 
nearer  the  Hudson  River  than  ten  miles.  The 
English  obtained  most  of  Long  Island  besides,  for 
in  that  quarter  the  line  was  declared  to  be  a  merid- 
ian drawn  through  the  westernmost  part  of  Oyster 
Bay.1  If  these  terms  subjected  Stuyvesant  to 
severe  criticism  at  New  Amsterdam,  it  was  really  a 
stroke  of  statesmanship  to  obtain,  even  at  a  sacrifice, 
what  was  for  the  first  time  an  international  barrier 
to  English  intrusion. 

,  Connecticut,  I.,  189-192, 


1651]     NEW   ENGLAND   CONFEDERATION       315 

The  southern  flank  of  New  Netherland  was  left 
unprotected,  and  in  1651  New  Haven  once  more 
endeavored  to  plant  a  colony  on  the  Delaware. 
The  failure  of  the  former  attempt  bore  heavily  upon 
the  wealthy  merchants  of  the  town,  and  they  had 
ill  luck  in  another  adventure.  In  January,  1646, 
they  sent  an  agent  to  England  to  solicit  a  charter 
from  the  English  government.  The  ship  in  which 
he  sailed  carried  seventy  other  prominent  citizens 
of  the  place  and  a  cargo  valued  at  £5000.  A  great 
storm  ensued  after  the  ship's  departure  and  she  was 
lost  at  sea.1  So  disheartening  was  this  misfortune 
that  many  at  New  Haven  entertained  the  idea  of 
removing  to  the  West  Indies  or  Ireland. 

Now,  in  1651,  under  a  commission  from  Governor 
Eaton,  fifty  men  from  New  Haven  prepared  to  sail 
for  the  Delaware.2  Their  ship  touched  at  New  Am- 
sterdam, and  Stuyvesant  arrested  both  passengers 
and  officers,  and  only  released  them  on  their  promise 
to  return  home.  The  adventurers  appealed  to  the 
commissioners,  and  these  officials  wrote  a  letter  to 
Stuyvesant  protesting  against  his  course.3 

Next  year  war  broke  out  between  Holland  and 
England,  and  the  war  spirit  spread  to  this  side  of 
the  ocean.  Rumors  got  afloat  that  the  Dutch  and 
Indians  had  conspired  against  the  English,  and  Con- 
necticut and  New  Haven  became  hysterical  for  war ; 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  II.,  325,  337. 

2  Trumbull,  Connecticut,  I.,  196. 

8  Plymouth  Col.  Records,  IX.,  210-215. 


3i6  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1652 

while  Rhode  Island  commissioned  John  Underhill, 
lately  escaped  from  the  Dutch,  to  take  all  Dutch 
vessels  he  could  find.1  Stuyvesant  indignantly  de- 
nied the  charge  of  conspiring  with  the  Indians,  and 
proposed  to  refer  the  examination  of  the  facts  to  any 
impartial  tribunal.  Nevertheless,  all  the  old  com- 
plaints were  revived. 

In  1652  the  federal  commissioners  resolved  on 
hostilities,2  but  the  Massachusetts  general  court, 
which  had  all  along  taken  a  position  in  favor  of 
peace,  refused  to  be  bound  by  a  vote  of  six  com- 
missioners representing  Plymouth,  Connecticut,  and 
New  Haven.3  On  the  other  hand,  the  commission- 
ers of  the  three  smaller  colonies  protested  against 
the  conduct  of  the  court  of  Massachusetts  as  vio- 
lating the  confederation.4  New  Haven  and  Con- 
necticut took  measures  to  wage  war  on  their  own 
account,5  and  in  April,  1654,  Connecticut  seques- 
tered the  Dutch  fort  at  Hartford.6 

When,  in  June,  1654,  a  fleet  despatched  by  Crom- 
well, in  response  to  appeals  made  to  him,  appeared 
in  Boston  harbor,  Connecticut  and  New  Haven  were 
overjoyed,  and  proceeded  with  alacrity  to  make 
arrangements  for  an  attack  on  the  hated  Dutch. 
Massachusetts  refused  to  raise  troops,  although  she 
gave  her  citizens  privilege  to  enlist  if  they  chose. 

1  R.  I.  Col.  Records,  I.,  266. 

2  Plymouth  Col.  Records,  X.,  102. 
8  Mass.  Col.  Records,  III.,  311. 

4  New  Haven  Col.  Records,  II.,  36.  5  Ibid.,  37 

6  Conn.  Col.  Records,  I.,  254. 


1654]     NEW   ENGLAND    CONFEDERATION       317 

Yet  her  policy  of  peace  prevailed  in  the  end,  for  be- 
fore the  preparations  described  could  be  completed 
a  stop  was  put  to  them  by  the  news  that  a  treaty  of 
peace  had  been  signed  between  England  and  Hol- 
land April  5,  I654.1 

Massachusetts  had  successfully  nullified  the  plain 
provisions  of  the  articles,  and  for  a  time  it  looked 
as  if  the  dissolution  of  the  confederacy  would  be  the 
consequence.  New  Haven  voted  at  first  not  to 
choose  commissioners,  but  finally  decided  to  do  so,2 
and  meetings  of  the  commissioners  went  on  apparent- 
ly as  before.  Nevertheless,  the  effect  of  the  action 
of  Massachusetts  was  far-reaching — from  that  time 
the  respective  colonies  diverged  more  and  more, 
till  the  hope  of  a  permanent  intercolonial  bond 
vanished. 

1  Trumbull,  Connecticut,  I.,  219,  220. 
*  New  Haven  Col.  Records,  II.,  in. 


VOL     IV. 22 


CHAPTER  XIX 

EARLY  NEW  ENGLAND  LIFE 
(1624—1652) 

DURING  the  civil  war  in  England  the  sympa- 
thies of  Massachusetts,  of  course,  were  with 
Parliament.  New  England  ministers  were  invited 
to  attend  the  Westminster  assembly  of  divines  held 
in  September,  1642,  and  several  of  them  returned  to 
England.  The  most  prominent  was  Rev.  Hugh 
Peter,  who  was  instrumental  in  procuring  the  de- 
capitation of  Charles  I.,  and  paid  for  the  offence, 
on  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.,  with  his  own  life. 
In  1643  Parliament  passed  an  act1  freeing  all  com- 
modities carried  between  England  and  New  England 
from  the  payment  of  "any  custom,  subsidy,  taxa- 
tion, imposition,  or  other  duty." 

The  transfer  of  the  supreme  authority  to  the  Par- 
liament, though  hailed  with  enthusiasm  in  New 
England,  increased,  if  anything,  her  confidence.  In 
the  summer  of  1644  a  ship  bearing  a  commission 
from  the  Parliament  attacked  and  captured  in  the 
harbor  of  Boston  another  ship  friendly  to  the  king ; 
Massachusetts  showed  her  displeasure  by  addressing 

1  N.  H.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  I.,  323-326. 

318 


1646]  NEW    ENGLAND    LIFE  319 

a  strong  protest  to  Parliament.  Not  long  after 
another  vessel  of  Parliament  attacked  a  ship  be- 
longing to  persons  from  Dartmouth  in  sympathy 
with  the  king.  This  time  Winthrop  turned  the 
guns  of  the  battery  upon  the  parliamentary  captain 
and  made  him  pay  a  barrel  of  powder  for  his  inso- 
lence.1 

The  same  summary  action  was  adopted  in  regard 
to  the  growing  demand  for  a  freer  suffrage.  In  May, 
1646,  an  able  and  respectful  petition  was  presented 
to  the  general  court  for  the  removal  of  the  civil 
disabilities  of  all  members  of  the  churches  of  Eng- 
land and  Scotland,  signed  by  William  Vassall,  Samuel 
Maverick,  Dr.  Robert  Child,  and  four  other  promi- 
nent Presbyterians.  The  petition  was  pronounced 
seditious  and  scandalous,  and  the  petitioners  were 
roundly  fined.  When  Child  set  out  for  England 
with  his  grievances,  he  was  arrested  and  his  baggage 
searched.  Then,  to  the  horror  of  the  rulers  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, there  was  discovered  a  petition  address- 
ed to  Parliament,  suggesting  that  Presbyterianism 
should  be  established  in  New  England  and  that  a 
general  governor  should  be  sent  over.  The  signers, 
brought  before  the  court,  were  fined  more  heavily 
than  before  and  imprisoned  for  six  months.  At 
length  Vassall  and  his  friends  contrived  to  reach 
England,  expecting  to  receive  the  aid  of  the  Pres- 
byterian party  in  Parliament ;  but  misfortune  over- 
took them  there  as  in  Massachusetts,  for  the  In- 

1  Winthrop,  New  England,  II.,  222-224,  228,  238-240. 


320  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1646 

dependents  were  now  in  control  and  no  help  could 
be  obtained  from  them.1 

The  agitation  in  England  in  favor  of  Presbyterian- 
ism,  and  the  petition  of  Vassall  and  his  friends  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, induced  the  general  court  in  May,  1646, 
to  invite  the  clergy  to  meet  at  Cambridge,  "  there 
to  discuss,  dispute,  and  clear  up,  by  the  word  of 
God,  such  questions  of  church  government  and  dis- 
cipline as  they  should  think  needful  and  meet," 
until  "one  form  of  government  and  discipline" 
should  be  determined  upon.  The  "synod"  met 
September  i,  1646,  and  after  remaining  in  session 
fourteen  days  they  adjourned.  In  August,  1648, 
after  the  -downfall  of  Presbyterianism  in  England, 
another  meeting  was  held,  and  a  plan  of  church 
government  was  agreed  upon,  by  which  order  and 
unity  were  introduced  among  members  theoretically 
independent.2 

By  a  unanimous  vote  the  synod  adopted  "  a  plat- 
form" approving  the  confession  of  faith  of  the  West- 
minster divines,  except  as  to  those  parts  which  fa- 
vored the  Presbyterian  discipline.  The  bond  of 
union  was  found  in  the  right  of  excluding  an  offend- 
ing church  from  fellowship  and  of  calling  in  the  civil 
power  for  the  suppression  of  idolatry,  blasphemy, 
heiesy,  etc.  The  platform  recognized  the  preroga- 
tive of  occasional  synods  to  give  advice  and  admoni- 

1  New  England's  Jonas   Cast    Up  at  London   (Force,   Tracts, 
IV.,  No.  Hi.);  Winthrop,  New  England,  II.,  319,  340,  358,  391. 
*  Wipthrop,  New  England,  II.,  329,  330,  402. 


1652]  NEW   ENGLAND   LIFE  321 

tion  to  churches  in  their  collective  capacity,  but 
general  officers  and  permanent  assemblies,  like  those 
of  the  Presbyterian  and  Anglican  churches,  armed 
with  coercive  power  to  act  upon  individuals,  were 
disclaimed.1 

Nevertheless,  by  the  organization  thus  effected, 
the  benumbing  influence  of  the  Calvinistic  faith 
upon  the  intellectual  life  of  New  England  was  fully 
established,  and  the  deaths  of  John  Winthrop  and 
John  Cotton,  which  happened  not  long  after,  were 
the  forerunners  of  what  Charles  Francis  Adams 
styles  the  "  glacial  period  of  Massachusetts." 2  Both 
Winthrop  and  Cotton  were  believers  in  aristocracy 
in  state  and  church,  but  the  bigotry  of  Winthrop 
was  relieved  by  his  splendid  business  capacity  and 
that  of  Cotton  by  his  comparative  gentleness  and 
tenderness  of  heart. 

"  Their  places  were  taken  by  two  as  active  fanatics 
as  ever  breathed  " 3 — John  Endicott,  who  was  gov- 
ernor for  thirteen  out  of  fifteen  years  following  Win- 
throp's  death,  and  John  Norton,  an  able  and  up- 
right but  narrow  and  intolerant  clergyman.  The 
persecuting  spirit  which  had  never  been  absent  in 
Massachusetts  reached,  under  these  leaders,  its 
climax  in  the  wholesale  hanging  of  Quakers  and 
witches. 

In  the  year  of  Cotton's  death  (1652),  which  was 

1  Mather,  Magnolia,  book  V. 

2  Adams,  Massachusetts,  its  Historians  and  its  History,  59. 

3  Fiske,  Beginnings  of  New  England,  179. 


322  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1652 

the  year  that  Virginia  surrendered  to  the  Parlia- 
mentary commissioners  and  the  authority  of  the 
English  Parliament  was  recognized  throughout  Eng- 
lish America,  the  population  of  New  England  could 
not  have  been  far  short  of  fifty  thousand.  For  the 
settlements  along  the  sea  the  usual  mode  of  com- 
munication was  by  water,  but  there  was  a  road  along 
the  whole  coast  of  Massachusetts.  In  the  interior 
of  the  colony,  as  Johnson  boasted,  "the  wild  and 
uncouth  woods  were  filled  with  frequented  ways, 
and  the  large  rivers  were  overlaid  with  bridges, 
passable  both  for  horse  and  foot."  l 

All  the  conditions  of  New  England  tended  to 
compress  population  into  small  areas  and  to  force 
the  energies  of  the  people  into  trade.  Ship -building 
was  an  early  industry,  and  New  England  ships  vie  1 
with  the  ships  of  Holland  and  England  in  visiting 
distant  countries  for  commerce.2  Manufacturing 
found  early  encouragement,  and  in  1639  a  number  of 
clothiers  from  Yorkshire  set  up  a  fulling-mill  at 
Rowley.3  A  glass  factory  was  established  at 
Salem  in  1641, 4  and  iron  works  at  Lynn  in  1643, 5 
under  the  management  of  Joseph  Jenks.  The  keen- 
ness of  the  New-Englander  in  bargains  and  business 
became  famous. 

In  Massachusetts  the  town  was  the  unit  of  repre- 

1  Johnson,  Wonder  Working  Providence,  book  III.,  chap.  i. 

2  Weeden,  Econ.  and  Soc.  Hist,  of  New  England,  I.,  143. 

3  Palfrey,  New  England,  II.,  53. 

4  Mass.  Col.  Records,  I.,  344. 

6  Weeden,  Econ.  and  Soc.  Hist,  of  New  England,  I.,  174. 


-1652]  NEW   ENGLAND    LIFE  323 

sentation  and  taxation,  and  in  local  matters  it  gov- 
erned itself.  The  first  town  government  appears  to 
have  been  that  of  Dorchester,  where  the  inhabitants 
agreed,  October  8,  1633,  to  hold  a  weekly  meeting 
"to  settle  and  sett  down  such  orders  as  may  tend 
to  the  general  good."  *  Not  long  after  a  similar 
meeting  was  held  in  Watertown,  and  the  system 
speedily  spread  to  the  other  towns.  The  plan  of 
appointing  a  body  of  "  townsmen,"  or  selectmen,  to 
sit  between  meetings  of  the  towns  began  in  Febru- 
ary, 1635,  in  Charlestown.2 

The  town-meeting  had  a  great  variety  of  business. 
It  elected  the  town  officers  and  the  deputies  to  the 
general  court  and  made  ordinances  regarding  the 
common  fields  and  pastures,  the  management  of 
the  village  herds,  roadways,  boundary -lines,  fences, 
and  many  other  things.  Qualified  to  share  in  the 
deliberations  were  all  freemen  and  "  admitted  in- 
habitants of  honest  and  good  conversation"  rated  at 
£20  (equivalent  to  about  $500  to-day).3 

In  the  prevalence  of  the  town  system  popular 
education  was  rendered  possible,  and  a  great  epoch 
in  the  history  of  social  progress  was  reached  when 
Massachusetts  recognized  the  support  of  education 
as  a  proper  function  of  government.  Boston  had  a 
school  with  some  sort  of  public  encouragement  in 
i635,4  and  in  1642,  before  schools  were  required  by 

1  Clapp,  Dorchester,  32.  2  Frothingham,  Charlestown,  51. 

3  Howard,  Local  Constitutional  History,  I.,  66. 

4  Palfrey,  New  England,  II.,  47. 


324  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1652 

law,  it  was  enjoined  upon  the  selectmen  to  "take 
account  from  time  to  time  of  parents  and  masters 
of  the  ability  of  the  children  to  read  and  understand 
the  principles  of  religion  and  the  capital  lawes  of  the 
country."  l  In  November,  1647,  a  general  educa- 
tional law  required  every  town  having  fifty  house- 
holders or  more  to  appoint  some  one  to  teach  chil- 
dren how  to  read  and  write,  and  every  town  having 
one  hundred  householders  or  more  to  establish  a 
"grammar  (Latin)  school"  to  instruct  youth  "so 
far  as  may  be  fitted  for  the  university."  2 

In  1636  the  Massachusetts  assembly  agreed  to 
give  £400  towards  "a  schoole  or  Colledge,"  3  to 
be  built  at  Newtown  (Cambridge).  In  1638  John 
Harvard  died  within  a  year  after  his  arrival,  and  left 
his  library  and  "one-half  his  estate,  it  being  in  all 
about  £700,  for  the  erecting  of  the  College."  In 
recognition  of  this  kindly  act  the  general  court 
fitly  gave  his  name  to  the  institution,4  the  first 
founded  in  the  United  States. 

In  1650  Connecticut  copied  the  Massachusetts 
law  of  1647,  an<3-  a  clause  declared  that  the  gram- 
mar -  schools  were  to  prepare  boys  for  college. 
The  results,  however,  in  practice  did  not  come  up 
to  the  excellence  of  the  laws,  and  while  in  some 
towns  in  both  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  a 
public  rate  was  levied  for  education,  more  generally 
the  parents  had  to  pay  the  teachers,  and  they  were 

1  Mass.  Col.  Records,  II.,  9. 

2  Ibid.,  203.  3  Ibid.,  I.,  183.  4  Ibid.,  253. 


1652]  NEW   ENGLAND    LIFE  325 

hard  to  secure.  When  obtained  they  taught  but 
two  or  three  months  during  the  year.1  Bad  spelling 
and  wretched  writing  were  features  of  the  age  from 
which  New  England  was  not  exempt.  Real  learning 
was  confined,  after  all,  to  the  ministers  and  the  richer 
classes  in  the  New  England  colonies,  pretty  much  as 
in  the  mother-country.  In  Plymouth  and  Rhode 
Island,  where  the  hard  conditions  of  life  rendered 
any  legal  system  of  education  impracticable,  illiter- 
acy was  frequent.  The  class  of  ignorant  people 
most  often  met  with  in  New  England  were  fisher- 
men and  the  small  farmers  of  the  inland  townships. 
Scarcity  of  money  was  felt  in  New  England  as  in 
Virginia,  and  resort  was  had  to  the  use  of  wampum 
as  a  substitute,2  and  corn,  cattle,  and  other  com- 
modities were  made  legal  tenders  in  payment  of 
debts.3  In  1652  a  mint  was  established  at  Boston, 
and  a  law  was  passed  providing  for  the  coinage 
of  all  bullion,  plate,  and  Spanish  coin  into  "twelve- 
penny,  sixpenny,  and  threepenny  pieces."  The 
master  of  the  mint  was  John  Hull,  and  the  shillings 
coined  by  him  were  called  "Pine-Tree  Shillings," 
because  they  bore  on  one  side  the  legend  "Massa- 
chusetts" encircling  a  tree.4 


1  Weeden,  Econ.  and  Soc.  Hist,  of  New  England,  I.,  282,  II., 
861. 

2  Weeden,    Indian    Money    as    a    Factor    in    New    England 
Colonization  (Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies,  II.,  Nos.  viii., 
ix.). 

3  Mass.  Col.  Records,  I.,  no;  Conn.  Col.  Records,  I.,  8. 

4  Mass.  Col.  Records,  IV.,  pt.  i.,  84,  118. 


326  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1652 

Marriage  was  a  mere  civil  contract,  and  the  burials 
took  place  without  funeral  service  or  sermon.  Stern 
laws  were  made  against  card  -  playing,  long  hair, 
drinking  healths,  and  wearing  certain  articles,  such 
as  gold  and  silver  girdles,  hat-bands,  belts,  ruffs,  and 
beaver  hats.  There  were  no  Christmas  festivals  and 
no  saints'  days  nor  recognized  saints,  though  special 
feasts  and  thanksgiving  days  were  frequent.1  The 
penal  legislation  of  New  England  was  harsh  and 
severe,  and  in  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  there 
were  fifteen  crimes  punishable  with  death,  while  the 
law  took  hold  also  of  innumerable  petty  offences.  In 
addition  the  magistrates  had  a  discretionary  authori- 
ty, and  they  often  punished  persons  on  mere  suspicion. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  ideal  of  the  edu- 
cated Puritan  was  lofty  and  high,  and  that  society 
in  New  England  was  remarkably  free  from  the  or- 
dinary frivolities  and  immoralities  of  mankind ;  but 
it  would  seem  that  human  nature  exacted  a  severe 
retaliation  for  the  undue  suppression  of  its  weak- 
nesses. There  are  in  the  works  of  Bradford  and 
Winthrop,  as  well  as  in  the  records  of  the  colonies, 
evidence  which  shows  that  the  streams  of  wicked- 
ness in  New  England  were  "  dammed  "  and  not  dried 
up.  At  intervals  the  impure  waters  broke  over  the 
obstacles  in  their  way,  till  the  record  of  crime  caused 
the  good  Bradford  "  to  fear  and  tremble  at  the  con- 
sideration of  our  corrupt  natures."  2 

1  Howe,  Puritan  Republic,  102,  no,  in. 

2  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  459. 


1652]  NEW   ENGLAND    LIFE  327 

The  conveniences  of  town  life  gave  opportunities 
for  literature  not  enjoyed  by  the  Virginians,  and, 
though  his  religion  cut  the  Puritan  almost  entirely 
off  from  the  finer  fields  of  poetry  and  arts,  New  Eng- 
land in  the  period  of  which  we  have  been  consider- 
ing was  strong  in  history  and  theology.  Thus  the 
works  of  Bradford  and  Winthrop  and  of  Hooker  and 
Cotton  compare  favorably  with  the  best  produc- 
tions of  their  contemporaries  in  England,  and  con- 
trast with  the  later  writers  of  Cotton  Mather's 
"  glacial  period,"  when,  under  the  influence  of  the 
theocracy,  "  a  lawless  and  merciless  fury  for  the  odd, 
the  disorderly,  the  grotesque,  the  violent,  strained 
analogies,  unexpected  images,  ped antics,  indelica- 
cies, freaks  of  allusion,  and  monstrosities  of  phrase  " 
were  the  traits  of  New  England  literature.1 

1  Tyler,  American  Literature,  II.,  87. 


CHAPTER  XX 
CRITICAL  ESSAY  ON  AUTHORITIES 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL    AIDS 

special  bibliographies  of  American  history  are 
serviceable  upon  the  field  of  this  volume.  First,  most 
searching  and  most  voluminous,  is  Justin  Winsor, 
Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America  (8  vols.,  1888- 
1889).  Mr.  Winsor  has  added  to  the  study  of  the  era  of 
colonization  by  the  writers  of  his  co-operative  work  the 
vast  wealth  of  his  own  bibliographical  knowledge.  The 
part  of  Winsor  applicable  to  this  volume  is  found  in  vol. 
III.,  in  which  most  of  the  printed  contemporary  material 
is  enumerated.  The  second  bibliography  is  the  Cam- 
bridge Modern  History,  VII.  (1903);  pages  757-765  in- 
clude a  brief  list  of  selected  titles  conveniently  classified. 
J.  N.  Larned,  Literature  of  American  History,  a  Biblio- 
graphical Guide  (1902),  has  brief  critical  estimates  of  the 
authorities  upon  colonial  history.  Channing  and  Hart, 
Guide  to  the  Study  of  American  History  (1896),  contains 
accounts  of  state  and  local  histories  (§  23),  books  of  travel 
(§  24),  biography  (§  25),  colonial  records  (§  29),  proceed- 
ings of  learned  societies  (§  31),  also  a  series  of  consecutive 
topics  with  specific  references  (§§  92-98,  100,  101,  109- 
124).  For  the  field  of  the  present  volume  a  short  road 
to  the  abundant  sources  of  material  is  through  the  foot- 
notes of  the  principal  secondary  works  enumerated  below. 
The  critical  chapters  in  The  American  Nation,  vols.  III. 

328 


1652]  AUTHORITIES  329 

and  V.,  contain  appreciations  of  many  authorities  which 
also  bear  on  the  field  of  vol.  IV. 


GENERAL  SECONDARY  WORKS 

The  "  Foundation  "  period,  from  1574  to  1652,  is  naturally 
one  of  the  most  interesting  in  the  annals  of  the  American 
colonies.  The  most  important  general  historians  are 
George  Bancroft,  History  of  the  United  States  (rev.  ed.,  6 
vols.,  1883-1885) ;  J.  A.  Doyle,  English  Colonies  in  America 
(3  vols.,  1882-1887);  Richard  Hildreth,  History  of  the 
United  States  (6  vols.,  1849-1852);  George  Chalmers, 
Political  Annals  of  the  American  Colonies  (1780);  Jus- 
tin Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America 
(8  vols.,  1888-1889);  John  Fiske,  Discovery  of  America 
(2  vols.,  1892),  Old  Virginia  and  Her  Neighbors  (1900), 
Beginnings  of  New  England  (1898),  Dutch  and  Quaker 
Colonies  in  America,  New  France  and  New  England 
(1902). 

Among  these  writers  three  have  conspicuous  merit — 
Doyle,  Winsor,  and  Fiske.  Doyle's  volumes  manifest  a 
high  degree  of  philosophic  perception  and  are  accurate  in 
statement  and  broad  in  conclusions.  Of  his  books  the 
volumes  on  the  Puritan  colonies  are  distinctly  of  a  higher 
order  than  his  volume  on  the  southern  colonies.  The 
chief  merit  of  Winsor's  work  is  the  critical  chapters  and 
parts  of  narrative  chapters,  which  are  invaluable.  John 
Fiske  is  not  wanting  in  the  qualities  of  a  great  historian — 
breadth  of  mind  and  accuracy  of  statement ;  but  his  great 
charm  is  in  his  style  and  his  power  of  vivifying  events  long 
forgotten.  He  has  probably  come  nearer  than  any  one 
else  to  writing  real  history  so  as  to  produce  a  popular 
effect. 

COLLECTIONS    OF    SOURCES 

The  main  contemporary  collectors  of  materials  for  the 
history  of  the  early  voyages  to  America  were  Richard 
Eden,  Richard  Hakluvt,  and  Samuel  Purchas.  Eden's 


330  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1580 

Decades  of  the  New  World  or  West  Indies  (7  vols.,  1555) 
consists  of  abstracts  of  the  works  of  foreign  writers — Peter 
Martyr,  Oviedo,  Gomara,  Ramusio,  Ziegler,  Pigafetta, 
Munster,  Bastaldus,  Vespucius,  and  others.  Richard 
Hakluyt  first  published  Divers  Voyages  (1582 ;  reprinted  by 
the  Hakluyt  Society)  and  then  his  Principal  Voyages 
(3  vols.,  folio,  1589;  reissued  1600).  Samuel  Purchas's 
first  volume  appeared  in  1613  under  the  title,  Purchas: 
His  Pilgrimage  of  the  World,  or  Religions  Observed  in  all 
Ages  and  Places  Discovered,  from  the  Creation  unto  this 
Present.  The  four  subsequent  volumes  were  published  in 
1623  under  the  title,  Hakluytius  Posthumous,  or,  Purchas: 
His  Pilgrimes. 

Among  these  three  compilers  Hakluyt  enjoys  pre-emi- 
nence, and  the  Hakluyt  Society  has  supplemented  his 
labors  by  publishing  in  full  some  of  the  narratives  which 
Hakluyt,  for  reasons  of  accuracy  or  want  of  space,  ab- 
breviated. The  Historie  of  Travaile  into  Virginia,  by 
William  Strachey,  secretary  to  Lord  Delaware,  was  pub- 
lished by  the  Hakluyt  Society  in  1848,  and  this  book 
contains  excellent  accounts  of  the  expeditions  sent  by 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh  to  Roanoke,  the  voyages  of  Bartholomew 
Gosnold  and  George  Weymouth,  and  the  settlement  made 
under  its  charter  by  the  Plymouth  Company  at  Sagadahoc, 
or  Kennebec. 

The  only  official  collection  of  documentary  materials 
that  covers  the  entire  period  is  the  Calendar  of  State  Papers, 
Colonial  Series,  America  and  West  Indies,  1574-1696  (9 
vols.,  1860-1903).  George  Sainsbury,  the  editor,  was  a 
master  at  catching  the  salient  points  of  a  manuscript. 
Many  of  his  abstracts  have  elsewhere  been  published  in 
full. 

The  principal  private  collectors  are  E.  Hazard,  State 
Papers  (2  vols.,  1792-1794);  Peter  Force,  Tracts  (4  vols., 
1836-1846);  Alexander  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States 
(2  vols.,  1891);  Albert  Bushnell  Hart,  American  History 
Told  by  Contemporaries  (4  vols.,  1898-1902);  Maryland 
Historical  Society,  Archives  of  Maryland;  and  the  series 


1652]  AUTHORITIES  331 

called  Documents  Relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of  New 
York,  edited  by  John  Romeyn  Brodhead.  Two  convenient 
volumes  embodying  many  early  writings  are  Stedman  and 
Hutchinson,  Library  of  American  Literature,  I.  (1888); 
Moses  Coit  Tyler,  History  of  American  Literature  During  the 
Colonial  Time,  1607-1676,  I.  (1897). 


VIRGINIA 

The  standard  authorities  for  the  history  of  Virginia  are 
Robert  Beverley,  History  of  Virginia  (17 2  2)  (extends  to 
Spotswood's  administration) ;  William  Stith,  History  of  Vir- 
ginia (1747)  (period  of  the  London  Company ) ;  John  D.  Burk, 
History  of  Virginia  (4  vols.,  1805);  R.  R.  Howison,  History 
of  Virginia  (2  vols.,  1846) ;  Charles  Campbell,  History  of  the 
Colony  and  Ancient  Dominion  of  Virginia  (1847) ;  and  John 
Fiske,  Old  Virginia  and  Her  Neighbors  (1900).  For  the 
period  Stith  is  by  far  the  most  important.  His  work  covers 
the  duration  of  the  London  Company,  and  as  he  had  access 
to  manuscripts  now  destroyed  the  history  has  the  value  of 
an  original  document.  As  president  of  William  and  Mary 
College  Stith  was  an  accomplished  scholar,  and  his  work, 
pervaded  with  a  broad,  philosophic  spirit,  ranks  perhaps 
first  among  colonial  histories.  As  a  mere  collection  of 
facts  upon  the  whole  colonial  history  of  Virginia  Campbell's 
work  is  the  most  useful.  The  greatest  collection  of  origi- 
nal material  bearing  upon  the  first  ten  years  of  the  colony's 
history  is  in  Alexander  Brown ,  Genesis  of  the  United  States 
(2  vols.,  1890).  This  remarkable  work  contains  an  intro- 
ductory sketch  of  what  has  been  done  by  Englishmen  prior 
to  1606  in  the  way  of  discovery  and  colonization,  and  a 
catalogue  of  charters,  letters,  and  pamphlets  (many  of 
them  republished  at  length)  through  which  the  events 
attending  the  first  foundation  of  an  English  colony  in  the 
New  World  are  developed  in  order  of  time.  Dr.  Brown's 
other  works,  The  First  Republic  in  America  (1898),  and 
English  Politics  in  America  (1901)  make  excellent  compan- 
ion pieces  to  the  Genesis,  though  the  author  has  made  a 


332  ENGLAND   IN  AMERICA  [1607 

great  mistake  in  not  supporting  his  text  with  foot-notes  and 
references. 

Among  the  contemporary  writers,  John  Smith,  Works 
(1884),  edited  by  Edward  Arber,  is  a  compilation  rather 
than  a  history,  and  in  spite  of  its  partisan  coloring  contains 
much  that  is  valuable  regarding  Virginia  affairs  from  1607 
to  1629.  For  matters  from  1619-1624  we  have  the  sure 
guide  of  the  London  Company's  Journal,  in  Virginia 
Historical  Society,  Collections,  new  series,  VII.  After  that 
time  the  main  dependence,  apart  from  the  Calendar 
of  State  Papers,  is  Hening,  Statutes  at  Large  of  Virginia 
(13  vols.,  1823).  The  leading  incidents  in  Virginia  con- 
nected with  Lord  Baltimore's  colony  of  Maryland  and 
the  Puritan  persecution  are  set  forth  by  J.  H.  Latane, 
Early  Relations  of  Maryland  and  Virginia  (Johns  Hopkins 
University  Studies,  XIII.,  Nos.  iii.,  iv.)  Many  docu- 
ments illustrative  of  this  period  may  be  read  in  Force, 
Tracts,  and  Hazard,  State  Papers;  Virginia  history  is 
illuminated  by  many  original  documents  printed  in  the 
Virginia  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography  (n  vols., 
1893-1903);  and  the  William  and  Mary  College  Quarterly 
(12  vols.,  1892-1903).  The  works  of  Edward  D.  Neill  are 
also  of  a  documentary  nature  and  of  much  value.  .Those 
which  bear  upon  Virginia  are  The  Virginia  Company 
(1868),  Virginia  Carolorum  (1886),  Virginia  Vestusta  (1885), 
and  Virginia  and  Virginiola  (1878).  Many  tracts  are  cited 
in  the  foot-notes. 

MARYLAND 

The  standard  authorities  for  the  history  of  Maryland  are 
J.  V.  L.  McMahon,  Historical  View  of  the  Government  of 
Maryland  (1831);  John  Leeds  Bozman,  History  of  Mary- 
land (2  vols.,  1837,  covering  the  period  of  1634  to  1658); 
James  McSherry,  History  of  Maryland  (1849) ;  J-  T.  Scharf, 
History  of  Maryland  (3  vols.,  1879)  5  William  Hand  Browne, 
History  of  Maryland  (1893),  and  George  andCecilius  Calvert 
(1893);  Edward  D.  Neill,  Founders  of  Maryland  (1876), 


1652]  AUTHORITIES  333 

and  Terra  Marias  (1867).  Of  these  Bozman's  work  is  an 
invaluable  magazine  of  information,  being,  in  fact,  as 
much  a  calendar  of  documents  as  a  continuous  narrative. 
William  Hand  Browne's  books  show  great  familiarity  with 
the  story  of  Maryland  and  its  founders,  but  his  treatment 
of  the  subject  is  marked  by  strong  bias  and  partisanship  in 
favor  of  Lord  Baltimore  and  his  government.  Neill's 
books,  on  the  other  hand,  argue  strongly  in  favor  of  the 
Puritan  influence  on  the  history  of  Maryland.  There  are 
many  interesting  pamphlets  relating  to  Maryland  in  the 
series  of  Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies,  such  as  Edward 
Ingle,  Parish  Institutions  of  Maryland,  L,  No.  vi.;  John 
Hensley  Johnson,  Old  Maryland  Manors,  I.,  No.  vii. ; 
Lewis  W.  Wilhelm,  Maryland  Local  Institutions,  III., 
Nos.  v.,  vi.,  vii.;  D.  R.  Randall,  The  Puritan  Colony  at 
Annapolis,  Maryland,  IV.,  No.  vi.;  J.  H.  Latane",  Early 
Relations  of  Virginia  and  Maryland,  XIII.,  Nos.  iii.,  iv., 
and  Bernard  C.  Steiner,  The  Beginnings  of  Maryland. 

The  documentary  material  of  Maryland  is  very  extensive, 
as  the  State  has  been  fortunate  in  preserving  most  of  its 
colonial  records.  The  Archives  of  Maryland  (23  vols., 
1889-1903),  published  by  the  Maryland  Historical  Society, 
is  composed  of  the  proceedings  of  the  council,  legislature, 
and  provincial  court.  The  Fund  Publications  of  the  society 
(36  nos.  in  4  vols.,  1867-1900),  are  also  valuable  in  this  re- 
spect, and  contain  among  other  things  The  Calvert  Papers 
(Fund  Publications,  No.  34).  A  complete  list  of  all  these 
publications  can  be  found  in  the  annual  report  of  the  so- 
ciety for  1902. 

For  the  controversy  between  Lord  Baltimore  and  the 
Puritans  the  chief  authorities  are  Winthrop,  History  of 
New  England  (2  vols.,  1790-1853);  Lord  Baltimore's  Case 
Concerning  the  Province  of  Maryland  (1653);  Virginia  and 
Maryland,  or  Lord  Baltimore's  Case  Uncased  and  Answered 
(Force,  Tracts,  II.,  No.  ix.);  Leonard  Strong,  Babylon's 
Fall  in  Maryland,  a  Fair  Warning  to  Lord  Baltimore; 
John  Langford,  A  Just  and  Clere  Reputation  of  Babylon's 
Fall  (1655);  John  Hammond,  Leah  and  Rachel  (Force, 

VOL.    IV. — 23 


334  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1620 

Tracts,  III.,  No.  xiv.);  Hammond  versus  Heamans,  or  an 
Answer  to  an  Audacious  Prophet;  Heamans,  Brief  Narra- 
tive of  the  Late  Bloody  Designs  Against  the  Protestants.  The 
battle  of  the  Severn  is  described  in  the  letters  of  Luke 
Barber  and  Mrs.  Stone,  published  in  Bozman,  Maryland, 
II.,  688. 

PLYMOUTH    AND    MASSACHUSETTS 

The  standard  authorities  for  the  history  of  these  two  colo- 
nies are  Thomas  Hutchinson,  History  of  the  Colony  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  (3  vols.,  1795-1828);  John  G.  Palfrey,  History 
of  New  England  (3  vols.,  1858-1890);  J.  S.  Barry,  History 
of  Massachusetts  (3  vols.,  1855-1857).  Very  lively  and 
interesting  are  Charles  Francis  Adams,  Massachusetts: 
Its  Historians  and  Its  History  (1893);  Three  Episodes  of  the 
History  of  Massachusetts  (2  vols.,  1895).  The  best  account 
of  Plymouth  is  J.  E.  Goodwin,  The  Pilgrim  Republic 
(1888). 

The  chief  original  authority  for  the  early  history  of  the 
Puritan  colony  of  New  Plymouth  is  William  Bradford, 
Plimoth  Plantation  (several  eds.);  and  for  Massachusetts, 
John  Winthrop,  History  of  New  England  (several  eds.), 
which  is,  however,  a  journal  rather  than  a  history.  Edward 
Arber,  Story  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  as  Told  by  Themselves 
(1897),  is  a  collection  of  ill-arranged  sources.  The  docu- 
mentary sources  are  numerous.  Hazard  prints  many 
documents  bearing  upon  the  early  history  of  Massachu- 
setts, and  much  valuable  matter  is  found  in  the  Records 
of  Plymouth  (12  vols.,  1855-1859),  and  the  Records  of 
Massachusetts  Bay  (5  vols.,  1853-1854).  Then  there  are 
the  published  records  of  numerous  towns,  which  throw 
much  light  upon  the  political,  social,  and  economic  condi- 
tion of  the  colonies.  The  publications  of  the  Massachusetts 
Historical  Society  and  of  the  New  England  Historic- 
Genealogical  Society  contain  much  original  matter  and 
many  interesting  articles  upon  the  early  history  of  both 
Plymouth  and  Massachusetts.  Special  tracts  and  docu- 


1652]  AUTHORITIES  335 

ments  are  referred  to  in  the  foot-notes  to  chaps,  ix.-xiii., 
above. 


RHODE    ISLAND 

The  general  histories  are  J.  N.  Arnold,  History  of  the 
State  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantation  (2  vols., 
1878),  and  Irving  B.  Richman,  Rhode  Island,  Its  Making 
and  Meaning  (2  vols.,  1902).  The  chief  original  authorities 
for  the  early  history  of  Rhode  Island  are  John  Winthrop, 
History  of  New  England,  and  the  Colonial  Records,  be- 
ginning in  1636.  The  publications  of  the  Rhode  Island 
Historical  Society  consist  of  Collections  (9  vols.),  Pro- 
ceedings (21  numbers),  and  Publications  (8  vols.).  In  all  of 
these  important  material  for  history  is  preserved.  The 
Narragansett  Club,  Publications  (6  vols.),  contain  Roger 
Williams's  letters;  and  there  is  some  important  matter 
in  S.  S.  Rider,  Rhode  Island  Historical  Tracts  (1877-1895), 
in  the  Narragansett  Historical  Register  (9  vols.),  and  the 
Newport  Historical  Reports  (4  vols.). 

CONNECTICUT    AND    NEW    HAVEN 

For  Connecticut  the  standard  authority  is  Benjamin 
Trumbull,  History  of  Connecticut  (2  vols..  1818).  Other 
general  histories  are  by  Theodore  Dwight,  G.  H.  Hollister, 
and  W.  H.  Carpenter.  Original  material  is  fpund  in  the 
Colonial  Records,  edited  by  J.  H.  Trumbull  and  C.  J. 
Hoadly;  Winthrop,  History  of  New  England;  Connecticut 
Historical  Society,  Proceedings,  which  contain  Hooker's 
famous  letter  to  Winthrop;  and  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society,  Collections. 

For  New  Haven  the  reader  should  consult  Edward  E. 
Atwater,  History  of  New  Haven  (1881);  Charles  H.  Lever- 
more,  Republic  of  New  Haven  (1886);  and  the  publications 
of  the  New  Haven  Historical  Society  and  the  Records  of 
the  Colony  of  New  Haven,  in  which  the  documentary 
material  is  chiefly  printed.  In  connection  with  this 


336  ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA  [1619 

volume  the  records  of  Hartford  and  of  Southold  are  im- 
portant. Special  authorities  are  cited  in  chaps,  xiv.,  xv. 
above. 

NEW    HAMPSHIRE    AND    MAINE 

The  standard  authority  for  the  history  of  New  Hamp- 
shire is  Jeremy  Belknap,  History  of  New  Hampshire  (3 
vols.,  1784-1813) ;  and  that  for  Maine  is  William  D.  William- 
son, History  of  Maine  (2  vols.,  1832).  Documents  illustrat- 
ing the  history  of  New  Hampshire  can  be  found  in  the 
New  Hampshire  Provincial  and  State  Papers  and  in  John 
Scribner  Jenness,  Transcripts  of  Original  Documents  in 
the  English  Archives  Relating  to  the  Early  History  of  the 
State  of  New  Hampshire  (1876). 

Important  papers  occur  in  the  ten  volumes  of  Collections 
published  by  the  New  Hampshire  Historical  Society.  For 
Maine  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  Collections  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Historical  Society  and  those  of  the  Maine  His- 
torical Society.  Important  original  material  may  be  found 
in  York  Deeds  (n  vols.,  1642-1726). 

For  the  early  history  of  both  colonies  John  Winthrop, 
History  of  New  England,  is  the  principal  original  au- 
thority. The  narrative  of  Gorges  has  some  value  in  con- 
nection with  both  colonies.  Special  tracts  and  docu- 
ments are  treated  in  chap,  xvi.,  above. 

DUTCH    COLONY    OF    NEW    NETHERLAND 

The  standard  authorities  for  the  early  history  of  this 
colony  are  E.  B.  O'Callaghan,  History  of  New  Nether  land 
(2  vols.,  1855),  and  John  Romeyn  Brodhead,  History  of 
the  State  of  New  York  (2  vols.,  1872).  The  voyage  of 
Henry  Hudson  is  told  in  Purchas;  and  the  Documents  Re- 
lating to  the  History  of  New  York  (15  vols.,  1856-1861) 
collected  by  John  Romeyn  Brodhead  shed  light  on  the 
early  Dutch  trading-post  at  New  Amsterdam.  The  first 
mention  by  the  English  of  the  Dutch  on  the  Hudson  is 
made  in  a  work  republished  in  the  Collections  of  the 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society  (2d  series,  IX.,  1-25), 


1652]  AUTHORITIES  337 

in  which  it  is  stated  that  an  English  sea-captain,  Dermer, 
"met  on  his  voyage  from  [Virginia  to  New  England]  with 
certain  Hollanders  who  had  a  trade  in  Hudson  River  some 
years  before  that  time,  1619." 

For  the  relations  of  the  Dutch  with  the  English  the 
main  authorities  are  William  Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation; 
John  Winthrop,  History  of  New  England;  the  "Proceed- 
ings of  the  Federal  Commissioners,"  published  in  Plymouth 
Colony  Records,  IX.,  X.,  and  New  Haven  Records,  and 
Hazard,  State  Papers,  II.;  and  Peter  de  Vries,  Journal 
(N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.,  Collections,  26.  series,  III.). 

NEW    SWEDEN 

The  founding  of  New  Sweden  is  probably  best  told  in 
Benjamin  Ferris,  History  of  the  Original  Settlements  on  the 
Delaware  (1846),  extracted  from  works  already  published 
in  English,  and  is  interesting  and  valuable  as  identifying 
and  describing  many  of  the  places  mentioned.  Winthrop 
and  the  records  of  the  federal  commissioners  set  out  pretty 
fully  the  relations  with  the  English  colonies. 

NEW    FRANCE    AND    ACADIA 

A  series  of  chapters  in  Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical 
History  of  America  (vol.  IV.,  chaps,  i.-iv.)  tell  the  story 
of  the  founding  of  the  French  dominion  in  America.  The 
chief  original  authorities  are  Richard  Hakluyt,  Voyages; 
Samuel  de  Champlain,  Les  Voyages;  Marc  Lescarbot,  His- 
toire  de  la  Nouvelle  France;  and  the  Jesuit  Relations. 

For  relations  with  the  English  the  chief  original  au- 
thority is  Winthrop.  Among  the  late  French  writers  the 
pre-eminence  is  accorded  to  the  Jesuit  father  Pierre 
Fran£ois  Xavier  de  Charlevoix,  Histoire  de  la  Nouvelle 
France. 

RIVALRY    WITH    SPAIN 

The  rivalry  of  England  with  Spain,  which  is  the  greatest 
underlying  principle  of  English  colonization,  is  depicted 
fully  in  Hakluyt,  Discourses  on  Western  Planting,  written 


338  ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA  [1580 

at  Raleigh's  request  and  shown  to  Queen  Elizabeth;  first 
printed  in  1877  by  Dr.  Charles  Deane  in  the  Maine  Hist.  Soc., 
Collections  (26.  series,  II.).  The  lives  of  Gilbert  and  Raleigh 
were  manifestations  of  this  spirit  of  rivalry,  and  Edward  Ed- 
wards, Life  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  (2  vols.,  1868),  contains  the 
fullest  and  best  account  extant  of  the  two  half-brothers.  In 
an  excellent  little  work,  Thomas  Hariot  and  His  Associates 
(1900),  developed  by  Henry  Stevens  chiefly  from  dormant 
material,  we  have  a  most  entertaining  and  interesting 
account  of  Thomas  Hariot,  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh,  Jacques  Le  Moyne,  Captain  John  White, 
and  other  noble  spirits  associated  in  the  colonization  of 
America.  Compare  the  critical  chapter  of  E.  G.  Bourne, 
Spain  in  America  (The  American  Nation,  III.). 

RELIGIOUS   INFLUENCES 

Religious  influences  entered  largely  into  the  settlement 
and  development  of  the  different  colonies  in  America.  The 
chief  authorities  on  the  subject  are  James  Carwithen, 
History  of  the  Church  of  England  (1849);  Daniel  Neal, 
History  of  the  Puritans  (1844);  Anderson,  History  of  the 
Church  of  England  in  the  Colonies  (2  vols.,  2d  ed.,  1856); 
William  Stevens  Perry,  History  of  the  American  Episcopal 
Church  (2  vols.,  1885);  Francis  Lister  Hawks,  Contributions 
to  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  the  United  States  (2  vols., 
1836-1839).  William  Meade,  Old  Churches  in  Virginia 
(2  vols.,  1857),  tells  much  about  the  early  church  in  Vir- 
ginia. In  the  Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies  are  Paul  E. 
Lauer,  Church  and  State  in  New  England,  X.,  Nos.  ii.,  iii.; 
and  George  Petrie,  Church  and  State  in  Maryland,  X.,  No.  iv. 

SOCIAL    AND    ECONOMIC    CONDITIONS 

For  Virginia  the  economic  side  has  been  fully  presented 
by  Philip  A.  Bruce  in  his  Economic  History  of  Virginia  in 
the  Seventeenth  Century  (2  vols.,  1896).  The  social  side 
during  the  period  of  the  present  volume  has  not  been 


1652]  AUTHORITIES  339 

thoroughly  covered  by  any  modern  writer.  For  Maryland 
no  detailed  statement  can  be  found,  but  much  valuable 
information  is  contained  in  Newton  D.  Mereness,  Mary- 
land as  a  Proprietary  Province  (1901).  For  New  England 
the  social  and  economic  status  is  fully  presented  by  William 
B.  Weeden,  Economic  and  Social  History  of  New  England 
(2  vols.,  1891).  John  G.  Palfrey,  History  of  New  England 
(4  vols.),  has  also  several  valuable  chapters  on  the  subject. 
Edward  Eggleston,  Beginners  of  a  Nation  (1897)  and 
Transit  of  Civilization  (1900)  deal  very  appreciatively  with 
social  elements  and  conditions. 


INDEX 


Ac  ADI  A,  Argall's  raid,  72,  149, 
289;  attacks  on  Plymouth 
posts,  176,  177;  settlement, 
287;  English  grant  and  rule, 
'289;  restored  to  France,  290; 
La  Tour-Aulnav  dissension, 
290,  306-309;  bibliography, 

Agamenticus.     See  York. 

Alexander,  Sir  William,  grants, 
207,  289,  294;  expedition 
against  Canada,  289;  pro- 
tests restoration,  290. 

Antinomian  controversy,  219— 
228;  Anne  Hutchinson's  doc- 
trines, 219;  factions,  220,  221; 
ministerial  conferences,  220, 
225;  political  aspect,  221- 
225;  Antinomians  banished, 
226-228;  effect,  228. 

Archer,  Gabriel,  in  Virginia, 
43,  52,  54,  63. 

Argall,  Samuel,  relieves  Vir- 
ginia, 59,  63,  68;  deputy 
governor,  70,  77;  capture's 
Pocahontas,  71;  raids  on 
Acadia,  72,  149,  289;  tyr- 
anny, 77,  78  ;  colonizing 
plan,  292. 

Assistants,  in  Plymouth,  179; 
in  Massachusetts,  elective, 
188,  203;  permanent  tenure, 
201,  202;  as  a  court,  202, 
203;  legislative  power,  203; 
in  Connecticut,  258;  tenure, 

259 
Aulnay,    Sieur   d',  in   Acadia, 


quarrel  with  La  Tour  290, 
306-309. 

BALTIMORE,  CECILIUS,  LORD, 
early  years,  character,  123; 
power  as  proprietary,  123- 
126;  religious  toleration,  125, 
126,  139,  140,  143,  144; 
control  of  legislation,  131, 
133;  and  Kent  Island  affair, 
135-138;  deposed  by  king, 

142,  145;    and    Parliament, 

143,  145-147. 
Baltimore,  George,  Lord,  early 

years,  118;  settlement  in 
Newfoundland,  118,  119; 
Catholic,  119;  ennobled,  119; 
in  Virginia,  119;  seeks  grant 
in  Virginia,  119-121;  first 
charter,  121;  opposition  of 
Virginia,  120-123;  Maryland 
charter,  121;  death  ,122. 

Baptists,  in  Rhode  Island,  237; 
persecuted  in  Massachusetts, 
238. 

Bennett,  Richard,  commission- 
er, in,  112;  governor  of 
Virginia,  113;  in  Maryland, 
T47- 

Berkeley,  Sir  William,  royalist 
governor  of  Virginia,  105; 
and  Puritans,  106,  108;  and 
parliamentary  commission, 

112. 

Bermudas,  Gates  at,  62. 
Bibliographies  of  period  1574- 
1652,  328. 


341 


342 


ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA 


Bicameral  legislatures,  93,  133, 
203,  258. 

Boston,  Blackstone's  house, 
175;  settled,  198. 

Boundaries,  Virginia  charter 
(1606),  37;  (1609),  61;  Mary- 
land charter,  121;  New  Eng- 
land charter,  152;  Plymouth, 
173;  Massachusetts  charter, 
184,  270,  279;  Rhode  Island 
charter,  235;  New  Nether- 
land  charter,  292,  313;  Mas- 
sachusetts -  Plymouth,  298; 
Massachusetts  -  Connecticut, 
304;  New  England  -  New 
Netherland,  313,  314. 

Bradford,  William,  Separatist, 
156;  in  Leyden,  158;  emi- 
grates, 160;  governor  of 
Plymouf  ,  164. 

Brewster,  William,  Separatist, 
155;  in  Leyden,  157;  emi- 
grates, 1 60 ;  minister  in  Plym- 
outh, 181. 

Brooke,  Lord,  grant  in  Con- 
necticut, 248;  buys  Dover, 
268,  271. 

CABOT,  JOHN,  voyage,  6. 

Cabot,  Sebastian,  and  English 
trade,  8. 

Calvert,  Leonard,  governor  of 
Maryland,  126;  Kent  Island 
affair,  135-138;  letters  of 
marque,  140;  driven  from 
Maryland,  141;  regains  con- 
trol, 142;  death,  143. 

Cambridge  platform,  320,  321. 

Canada,  French  voyages,  284; 
Roberval's  colony,  285;  colo- 
nizing company,  286;  Quebec 
settled,  288 ;  origin  of  Iroquois 
hostility,  288;  company  re- 
organized, 288 ;  supplies  capt- 
ured, 289;  Alexander's  grant, 
289;  English  capture,  290; 
restored  to  France,  290;  and 
Massachusetts'  trade,  309; 
bibliography,  337. 


Cape    Ann,    Plymouth    claim, 

170;  Dorchester  settlers,  170; 

trouble,       171;      settlement 

moved,   183. 
Cartier,  Jacques,  voyages,  284, 

285. 
Carver,    John,    Separatist,    in 

Leyden,    158;   seeks   patent, 

159;  emigrates,  160;  governor 

of  Plymouth,  161;  death,  164. 
Casco.     See  Falmouth. 
Catholics,  in  Maryland,  126, 139, 

140;  missionaries  in  Canada, 

287,  288,  290. 
Cavendish,    Thomas,     voyage, 

13  ;    with  Raleigh's    colony, 

23- 

Challons,  Henry,  attempted 
settlement,  39. 

Champlain,  Samuel,  first  visit 
to  Canada,  286;  in  Acadia, 
287;  settles  Quebec,  288; 
attacks  Iroquois,  288;  sur- 
renders, 290;  return  to 
Canada,  290. 

Chancellor,  Richard,  voyage,  8. 

Charles  I.,  and  Virginia,  91-96, 
99,  105,  120;  and  Baltimore, 
120;  and  Kent  Island,  136- 
138;  and  Massachusetts,  204- 
209. 

Charlestown,  Wai  ford's  settle- 
ment, 175;  laid  out,  named, 
190;  sickness,  196,  198. 

Charters,  Merchant  Adventur- 
ers (1554),  8;  trading  (1566), 
14;  Gilbert  (1578),  15^  Ra- 
leigh (1584),  22;  Virginia 
(1606),  36-38;  (1609),  59-61 ; 
(1612),  76;  annulled,  88; 
Virginia  parliamentary,  105; 
Maryland  (1632),  122-126; 
New  England  (1620),  152; 
resigned,  207;  Massachusetts, 
(1629),  188,  189;  Rhode 
Island  (1644),  235;  Gorges 
(1637),  275.  See  also  Grants. 

Chelsea,  settled,  175. 

Church  of  England  in  Virginia, 


INDEX 


343 


80,  1 06;  improved  ministry, 
no. 

Claiborne,  William,  Kent  Isl- 
and settlement,  95.  134;  and 
Harvey,  96 ;  commissioner, 
111,112;  opposes  Baltimore's 
charter,  121;  career,  121; 
denies  Baltimore's  authority, 
135;  arrest  ordered,  136; 
appeals  to  king,  136,  137; 
conflict  on  island,  136;  treach- 
ery of  Evelin,  137:  island 
seized  138;  attainted,  138; 
claim  invalidated,  138;  prop- 
erty confiscated,  138  ;  re- 
turn to  Kent  Island,  142; 
ascendency  in  Maryland,  147. 

Cocheco.     See  Dover. 

Coddington,  William,  in  Rhode 
Island,  229,  237;  royal  com- 
mission, 237,  238. 

Colonies,  English,  Gilbert's 
charter,  15;  immunities,  16; 
Gilbert's  attempts,  16-21; 
debt  to  Raleigh,  32;  Gosnold 
and  Gilbert's  attempt,  34; 
joint  -  stock  companies,  36; 
royal  administration,  96,  206; 
connected  history,  282;  bibli- 
ography, 329-331;  bibliog- 
raphy on  religious  influences, 
338;  bibliography  on  social 
and  economic  conditions, 
338.  See  also  colonies  and 
companies  by  name. 

Colonies,  French.  See  Acadia, 
Canada. 

Colonies,  Spanish,  influence  on 
Spain,  4;  and  Hawkins,  9,  10; 
Drake's  attacks,  n,  12; 
Cavendish  plunders,  13; 
bibliography  on  English  re- 
lations, 337. 

Commission  for  Foreign  Plan- 
tations, 96,  206. 

Communism  in  Virginia,  59,  73, 
77,  79;  in  Plymouth,  167. 

Conant,  Roger,  in  Massachu- 
setts, 170,  171,  183. 


Congregationalism,  beginnings, 
154;  established  in  Massa- 
chusetts, 190,  196,  201,  202, 
210;  disclaimed,  194,  197; 
Massachusetts  clergy,  200, 
205;  opposition,  211,  212; 
Antinomian  controversy, 
219-228;  in  Connecticut,  258; 
in  New  Haven,  263;  Cam- 
bridge platform,  320;  effect, 
321.  See  also  Pilgrims. 

Connecticut,  elements,  239; 
Plymouth's  interest,  240-242, 
245;  Dutch  in,  241,  249,  310, 
316;  migration  from  Massa- 
chusetts, 242-247;  settled  by 
organized  communities,  247; 
Saltonstall's  settlement,  248; 
Saybrook,  249;  union  of  set- 
tlements, 250;  Pequot  War, 
251-257;  Fundamental  Or- 
ders, 257-259;  suffrage,  258; 
theocracy,  258;  tenure  of 
office,  259;  growth,  259,  260; 
acquires  Fen  wick  patent, 
260;  population  (1653),  260; 
Massachusetts  boundary, 
304;  river  tolls,  304-306;  bib- 
liography, 335.  See  also  New 
England. 

Constitutions,  Connecticut 

(l639).  257-259. 

Cotton,  John,  in  Massachusetts, 
205;  character,  218,  243,  321 ; 
and  Antinomi  anism  ,220,223, 
226,  227;  death,  321. 

Council  in  Maryland,  129.  See 
also  Assistants. 

Council  for  New  England, 
charter,  152;  territory,  152; 
patent  to  Plymouth,  164; 
grant  to  Weston,  166;  fishing 
monopoly  endangered,  167; 
temporary  activity,  168; 
division,  168,  185;  discour- 
aged, 169;  grant  to  Massa- 
chusetts, 184;  conflicting 
grants,  185,  redi  vision,  207; 
resigns  charter,  207;  grants 


344 


ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA 


to  Mason  and  Gorges,  266, 
268;  other  Maine  grants, 
274-277.  See  also  Plymouth 
Company. 

Courts,  Maryland,  129;  New 
England  codes,  180,  203,  326; 
assistants,  in  Massachusetts, 
202,  203;  New  Haven,  265. 

DALE,  SIR  THOMAS,  deputy 
governor  of  Virginia,  policy 
and  discipline,  70;  and  Ind- 
ians, 71;  expeditions  against 
French,  72;  abolishes  com- 
munism, 73;  departs,  74. 

Davenport,  John,  purpose,  260; 
in  Boston,  261;  settles  New 
Haven,  261;  organizes  gov- 
ernment, 262. 

Davis,  John,  voyages,  15. 

Delaware,  Lord,  governor  of 
Virginia,  61,  78;  arrival,  67, 
68;  administration,  68,  69; 
death,  78. 

Delaware  River,  named,  72; 
Dutch  on,  293;  Dutch  and 
Virginians,  294;  Swedes  on, 
296;  New  Haven  on,  296, 

311,  3I5- 

Denys,  Jean,  voyage,  284. 

Dorchester,  settled,  198;  rest- 
less, 242;  emigration  to  Con- 
necticut, 245,  246;  settles 
Windsor,  247;  town  govern- 
ment, 323. 

Dorchester  adventurers,  settle 
ment,  170;  renewed  activity 
183;  patent,  184.  See  also 
Massachusetts. 

Dover  (Cocheco) ,  settlement 
175,  267;  feeble  existence 
268;  Puritans  control,  268 
Antinomian  settlers,  269 
dissensions,  269;  civil  con. 
tract,  270 ;  annexed  by  Massa 
chusetts,  271. 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  with  Haw 
kins,  10 ;  early  years,  10 
attack  on  Panama,  n;  on 


Pacific  settlements,  12;  cir- 
cumnavigation, 12;  Eliza- 
beth's reception,  13;  rescues 
Raleigh's  colony,  25. 
Dudley,  Thomas,  agrees  to 
emigrate,  193;  deputy  gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts,  193, 
224;  disclaims  Separatism, 
197;  governor,  200,  215. 

EATON,  THEOPHILUS,  purpose, 
260;  governor  of  New  Haven, 
263. 

Economic  condition,  England 
(1606),  39;  Virginia  (1648), 
no;  New  England  (1652), 
322 ;  money  in  New  England, 

325-  . 

Education,  in  Virginia,  116, 
117;  in  Maryland,  147;  in 
Plymouth,  181;  public,  in 
Massachusetts,  323;  Harvard 
College,  324;  in  Connecticut, 
324;  extent  in  New  England, 

325- 

Eliot,  John,  contumacy,  211; 
Indian  mission,  303. 

Elizabeth,  and  Hawkins,  10; 
and  Drake,  1 3 ;  and  Frobisher, 
14;  and  Gilbert,  15,  18; 
and  Raleigh,  21;  names  Vir- 
ginia, 23;  support  of  Prot- 
estantism, 28;  and  Puritans, 

z$3- 

Endicott,  John,  grantee,  184; 
at  Salem,  186;  suppresses 
Merry  Mount,  186;  antici- 
pates Oldham,  190;  Con- 
gregationalist,  190;  banishes 
Conformists,  191;  and  Mor- 
ton, 192;  defaces  flag,  206; 
expedition  against  Pequots, 
252;  character,  321. 

England,  spirit  of  progress,  3, 
4;  religious  conditions,  5; 
Spanish  rivalry,  5;  claim  to 
America,  6;  unprepared  for 
colonization,  7;  fisheries,  7; 
trade  development  (1550), 


INDEX 


345 


8;  slave-trade,  8-10;  trade 
under  Mary,  9;  private  at- 
tacks on  Spanish  colonies, 
10-13;  search  for  northwest 
passage,  14;  Spanish  war, 
28-30,  35;  Armada,  30;  eco- 
nomic condition  (1606),  39; 
Puritanism,  153;  Separatism, 
*  54 -1 56;  an^  French  colo- 
nies, 289;  and  New  Nether- 
land,  292;  bibliography  on 
Spanish  relations,  337.  See 
also  colonies,  and  sovereigns 
by  name. 

Evelin,  George,  and  Kent  Isl- 
and, 137. 

Exeter,  settled,  269;  civil  con- 
tract, 270;  annexed  by  Massa- 
chusetts, 272. 

FALMOUTH  (Casco),  Cleves  at, 
277;  submits  to  Massachu- 
setts, 281. 

Fenwick,  George,  patent,  260, 

3°4- 

Ferdinando,  Simon,  voyage,  17. 

Fisheries,  English  interests,  9; 
New  England  monopoly,  168. 

Frobisher,  Martin,  voyages,  14. 

Fur -trade,  New  England  mo- 
nopoly, 1 68;  French  grants, 
286,  287;  Dutch,  291,  293. 

GATES,  SIR  THOMAS,  governor 
of  Virginia,  61,  70;  at  Ber- 
mudas, 62;  at  Jamestown, 
62,  67. 

Gilbert,  Bartholomew,  attempt- 
ed colony,  34. 

Gilbert,  Sir  Humphrey,  pur- 
pose, 6;  early  years,  13,; 
first  efforts,  14;  pamphlet, 
14;  charter,  15;  first  ex- 
pedition, 16;  preparation  for 
second,  17;  second,  18-21; 
death,  20. 

Gorges,  Sir  Ferdinando,  career, 
151;  colonial  activity,  151; 
opposition  to  Massachusetts, 


187,  204-209;  grants,  207, 
266,  268;  general  governor, 
208;  Massachusetts  annexes 
grant,  209,  279,  280;  settle- 
ments in  territory,  272-274, 
276,  277;  charter  and  reg- 
ulations, 275;  and  Plough 
patent,  277,  278;  death,  278. 

Gorges,  John,  patent,  187 ;  grant 
to  Oldham,  187;  heir,  274. 

Gorges,  Robert,  settlement, 
168;  and  Weston,  169;  grant, 
185,  186;  heir,  187. 

Gorton,  Samuel,  settlement, 
230.  233;.  character,  232; 
trouble  with  Massachusetts, 
232-234;  banished,  234;  re- 
turn, 234. 

Gosnold,  Bartholomew,  at- 
tempted colony,  34;  in  Vir- 
ginia, 42,  49;  death,  51. 

Governors,  Virginia,  under 
charter,  61,  79,  80;  elective, 
in  Plymouth,  179;  in  Massa- 
chusetts, 199,  202;  in  Con- 
necticut, 258,  259;  in  New 
Haven,  263,  264. 

Grants,  Heath  (1629),  120; 
Pilgrims,  159,  164,  172;  Wes- 
ton (1622),  1 66;  Pierce(T623), 
167;  Massachusetts  (1628), 
184;  conflicting,  185;  Mason 
and  Gorges  (1622),  185,  266; 
(1629),  267,  268;  (1631), 
268;  R.  Gorges  (1622)  185; 
Sheffield  (1623),  185;  E. 
Gorges  (1623),  185;  division 
of  New  England  (1635^, 
207;  Say  and  Brooke  (1631), 
248;  various,  in  Maine,  274, 
276;  Plough,  277;  Moncs. 
(1604),  286;  Alexander  (1621, 
1628),  289;  Plo-A'den  (1632), 
294.  See  also  Charters. 

Grenville.  Sir  Richard,  and 
Gilbert's  plan.  15;  conducts 
Raleigh's  colony,  23,  26; 
captures  Spanish  ship,  24, 
deatn,  24. 


ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA 


HAKLUYT,  RICHARD,  and  Gil- 
bert's plan,  15,  17;  Western 
Planting,  22;  buys  trade 
right,  31;  trade  venture,  35; 
instructions  to  settlers,  42. 

Hanham,  Thomas,  voyage,  30. 

Hartford,  Dutch  fort,  241,  310, 
316;  English  settlers,  247. 

Harvard  College,  324. 

Harvey,  John,  governor  of  Vir- 
ginia, 93;  conduct,  96;  de- 
posed, 97, 136;  reinstated,  98; 
called  to  account,  104. 

Hawkins,  Sir  John,  slave-trade, 
9;  attacked  by  Spanish,  10. 

Hawkins,  William,  slave-trade, 
8. 

Haynes,  John,  governor  of 
Connecticut,  200;  effort  for 
confederation,  297. 

Higginson,  Francis,  minister  at 
Salem,  191;  death,  198. 

Hooker,  Thomas,  in  Massa- 
chusetts, 205;  liberality,  243; 
goes  to  Connecticut,  247; 
effort  for  confederation,  297. 

Hore,  voyage,  7. 

Houses,  Virginia,  114. 

Hudson,  Henry,  voyage,  291. 

Hutchinson,  Anne,  doctrine, 
219;  following  and  contro- 
versy, 220-225;  punishment 
of  followers,  225,  2 26;  banish- 
ed, 226-228;  in  Rhode  Isl- 
and, 228;  under  surveillance, 
231 ;  removes,  231 ;  slain,  231. 

INDIANS,  and  Raleigh's  colony, 
27,28;  Virginia  confederacies, 
44,  45;  houses,  45;  religion, 
45;  adoption  of  victims,  46- 
48;  maidens'  dance,  48;  and 
Virginia,  49,  51,  65,  66,  68, 
71;  massacres  in  Virginia, 
85,  107;  peace,  108;  and 
Maryland,  127,  136,  139; 
pestilence  in  New  'England, 
152;  and  Plymouth,  163- 
165,  177;  and  Massachusetts, 


200;  Roger  Williams's  in- 
fluence, 213,  217,  253;  Narra- 
gansett-Mohegan  war,  233, 
301;  Pequot  War,  251-257; 
and  French,  288;  and  New 
England  Confederation,  300- 
302;  New  England  missions. 
302-304;  number  of  praying, 
304;  Dutch  war,  296,  311. 

Ingle,  Richard, in  Maryland,i4i . 

Iroquois,  and  English,  256; 
origin  of  hostility  to  French 
288. 

JAMES  I.,  and  London  Com- 
pany, 82,  83,  86-88,  90;  and 
Separatists,  155;  and  Pil- 
grims,  159. 

Jamestown,  founded,  50;  burn- 
ed, 53;  in  1634,  101;  im- 
proved houses,  102. 

KENT  ISLAND,  occupied,  95; 
Virginia's  claim,  134;  Balti- 
more's authority  denied,  135; 
seizure  ordered,  136;  con- 
flict, 136;  royal  order,  137; 
Evelin's  treachery,  137;  re- 
duced by  Calvert,  138;  de- 
creed to  Baltimore,  138; 
Claiborne's  return,  142. 

Kieft,  William,  governor  of 
New  Netherland,  296;  and 
New  England,  310-312. 

Kittery,  settlement,  278;  sub- 
mits to  Massachusetts,  280. 

LAND,  allotment  in  Virginia, 
79;  manors  in  Maryland,  130; 
division  in  Plymouth,  167; 
in  Massachusetts,  189;  Will- 
iams's objection  to  titles, 
213,  214. 

La  Roche,  Marquis  de,  colony, 
286. 

La  Tour,  Charles  de,  in  Aca- 
dia,  quarrel  with  Aulnay,  290. 
306-309;  Massachusetts  aids, 
291, 306-309. 


INDEX 


347 


Legislation,  of  Virginia's  first 
assembly,  80;  on  tobacco, 
103;  initiative  in  Maryland, 
131,  133;  Maryland  Tolera- 
tion Act,  144;  New  England 
codes,  180,  203,  326;  initia- 
tive in  Massachusetts,  203; 
New  England  sumptuary, 
326. 

Lery,  Baron  de,  attempted 
settlement,  284. 

Literature    in    New     England, 

327- 

London  Company,  charter,  36- 
38;  patron,  37;  government, 
37-39;  new  charter,  59-61; 
third  charter,  76;  self-gov- 
ernment, 76;  policy,  76; 
control,  81;  and  the  king, 
82;  Sandys's  enterprise,  82; 
overthrow,  86-88;  service, 
88;  loyalty  of  colony,  89; 
attempts  to  restore,  91,  95, 
104-106;  patents  to  Pil- 
grims, 159.  See  also  Vir- 
ginia. 

Long  Island,  Plowden's  grant, 
294;  Alexander's  grant,  294; 
English  settlements,  296. 

Lyford,  John,  in  Plymouth  and 
Massachusetts,  170,  171. 

Lynn,  settled,  198. 

MACE,  SAMUEL,  voyage,  33. 

Maine,  Popham's  colony,  40, 
41 ;  grants,  207,  266,  268,  274- 
277;  Massachusetts  annexes, 
209,  279-281;  settlements, 
267,  273;  origin  of  name, 
272;  Gorges's  charter  and 
regulations,  275;  Massachu- 
setts buys  a  patent,  276; 
Plough  patent  resisted  and 
arbitrated,  277,  278;  union 
of  Gorges's  settlements,  278; 
results  of  annexation,  281; 
bibliography,  336. 

Manhattan  purchased,  293. 

Manors  in  Maryland,  129,  130. 


Manufactures,  New  England, 
322. 

Maps,  Virginia  (1608),  57;  New 
England  (1614),  150. 

Maryland,  Virginia's  protest, 
96,  122;  Puritan  settlers, 
109,  144;  charter,  121,  122; 
boundaries,  121;  named,  122; 
power  of  proprietary,  123- 
126;  legislative  power,  125; 
religious  freedom,  125,  139, 
140,  143,  144;  first  settlers, 
126;  leaving  England,  126; 
and  Indians,  127,  136,  139; 
settlement,  127;  conditions 
favoring  growth,  128;  ser- 
vants, 128;  rural  society,  129; 
government,  129;  manors, 
130;  democracy,  130;  origin 
of  laws,  131,  133;  com- 
position of  assembly,  133; 
Kent  Island  affair,  134-139; 
Catholic  propaganda,  139; 
and  Great  Rebellion,  140; 
and  Ingle,  141;  Protestant 
revolt,  141,  142;  Calvert  re- 
gains control,  142;  Stone 
governor,  143;  and  Parlia- 
ment, 143,  145-147;  oath 
of  fidelity,  145;  parliament- 
ary control,  147;  population 
(1652),  147;  social  condi- 
tions, 147;  bibliography,  332- 
334- 

Mason,  John,  grants,  185,  207, 
266-268;  opposition  to  Mas- 
sachusetts, 204-208;  death, 
208;  Massachusetts  annexes 
grant,  209,  271,  272;  settle- 
ments in  territory,  268-270. 

Mason,  John,  in  Pequot  War, 
254-256. 

Massachusetts,  trade  with. Vir- 
ginia, 104;  minor  settle- 
ments, 166,  168,  170,  175; 
Dorchester  adventurers,  170, 
183;  Merry  Mount,  174,  186, 
192,  197 ;  religion  not  primary 
interest,  184;  patent,  184, 


348 


ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA 


185;  boundaries,  184,  270; 
conflicting  grants,  185;  Salem 
reinforced,  186;  government 
for  colonists,  189;  land  allot- 
ment, 189;  and  Oldham's 
claim,  187,  190;  charter,  gov- 
ernment, 1 88,  189;  Congre- 
gationalism established,  190, 
192,  196,  201,  202,  210;  re- 
ligious persecution,  191,  201, 
211,  237,  319;  government 
transferred  to  America,  193; 
great  emigration,  cause,  193- 
195;  sickness,  195,  196,  198, 
199;  towns  (1630),  198;  first 
general  court,  199;  governors, 
199;  and  Indians,  200;  rise  of 
theocracy,  200—202;  quality 
of  clergy,  200,  205;  assistants 
usurp  power,  201;  restricted 
suffrage,  202,  210,  211; 
criminal  law,  202;  repre- 
sentation established,  202, 
203;  popular  elections,  203; 
origin  of  laws,  203;  code, 
203;  opposition  in  England, 
204-209;  temporarily  sus- 
tained, 204;  and  Laud,  205; 
increased  immigration,  205; 
population  (1634),  205; 
(1643),  209>  charter  demand- 
ed, 205,  208;  prepares  for 
resistance,  206;  and  English 
flag,  206;  petition,  206;  judg- 
ment against,  frustrated,  208 ; 
annexes  New  Hampshire  and 
Maine,  209,  271,  272,  279— 
281;  opposition  to  religious 
despotism,  211,  212 ; Williams 
incident,  212-218;  religious 
regulations,  218;  Antinomian 
controversy,  219-228;  its  ef- 
fect, 228;  and  Rhode  Island, 
230,  231,  235—238;  and  Gor- 
ton, 232-235;  parliamentary 
grant,  235;  and  settlement  of 
Connecticut,  240-242;  emi- 
gration to  Connecticut,  242- 
247 ;  opposition  to  restricted 


suffrage,  243,  271,  319;  and 
Pequot  War,  251-253,  256; 
and  Davenport's  colony,  261 ; 
buys  a  Maine  patent,  276; 
arbitrates  on  Plough  patent, 
277;  influence  of  annexations, 
281;  and  La  Tour,  291,  306- 
309;  boundary  disputes,  298, 
304;  and  trade  with  Canada, 
309;  and  Parliament,  318; 
Cambridge  platform,  320; 
"glacial  period,"  321;  mint, 
325;  bibliography,  334.  See 
also  New  England. 

Maverick,  Samuel,  settlement, 
175;  grant,  274;  fined,  319. 

Mayhew,  Thomas,  Indian  mis- 
sion, 302-304. 

Merry  Mount,  settlement,  174; 
suppressed,  174,  186;  Mor- 
ton's return,  192. 

Miantonomoh,  and  Gorton,  233 ; 
captured  and  slain,  233. 

Minuit,  Peter,  governor  of  New 
Netherland,  293;  Swedish 
colony,  296. 

Mohegans,  Narragansett  war, 
233.  300-302. 

Money  in  New  England,  325. 

Monts,  Sieur  de,  grant,  286; 
attempted  settlement,  287. 

Morton,  Thomas,  at  Merry 
Mount,  174;  sent  to  England. 
175, 197;  return,  192 ;  attorney 
against  Massachusetts,  208. 

Mount  Desert  Island,  French 
settlement  reduced,  72,  149, 
289. 

Mystic,  settled,  198. 

NANTASKET,  settled,  170. 

Narragansetts,  and  Plymouth, 
165;  Mohegan  war,  233,  300; 
and  Pequot  War,  251,  253; 
and  New  England  Confedera- 
tion, 300-302. 

Netherlands,  Separatists  in, 
154-158;  voyages  to  Amer- 
ica, 291. 


INDEX 


349 


New  England,  coast  explora- 
tions, 34,  35.  40,  150;  map 
(1614),  150;  named,  150; 
attempted  settlement,  150; 
Indian  pestilence,  152;  settle- 
ments (1628),  175;  popula- 
tion (1643),  2°9I  (J652),  322; 
preparation  against  Dutch, 
316;  communication,  322; 
trade,  322;  ship-building,  322; 
manufactures,  322;  town 
government,  322,  323;  educa- 
tion, 323-325;  money,  325; 
marriage,  326;  sumptuary 
laws,  326 ;  criminal  laws,  326 ; 
social  character,  326;  litera- 
ture, 327;  bibliography  on 
Dutch  relations,  337 ;  bibliog- 
raphy on  French  relations, 
337.  See  also  next  title, 
Council  for  New  England, 
Plymouth  Company,  and  col- 
onies by  name. 

New  England  Confederation, 
causes  and  attempts,  282, 
297,  298;  organized,  mem- 
bers, 298;  object,  manage- 
ment, powers,  support,  299; 
defects,  300;  population,  300; 
and  Indian  war,  300-302; 
and  Massachusetts,  301,  305, 
306,  308,  310,  316,  317; 
appointment  of  commander, 
301;  and  Indian  missions, 
302-304;  boundary  decision, 
304;  Connecticut  River  tolls, 
304-306;  and  French,  308, 
310;  and  Dutch,  311-313; 
Dutch  treaty,  313,  314;  war 
threats ,  3 1 5  -  3 1 7 ;  perma- 
nency thwarted,  317. 

New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts 
annexes,  209,  271,  272; 
grants,  266,  267;  settlements, 
267,  269,  270;  named,  268; 
feebleness,  268;  dissensions, 
269;  civil  contracts,  270; 
Massachusetts'  claim,  270; 
suffrage  after  annexation , 

VOL.    IV. —  24 


271;  and  the  confederation, 
298;  bibliography,  336.  See 
also  New  England. 

New  Haven,  settlers'  plan,  260; 
settled,  261;  purchase  from 
Indians,  262;  government, 
262-264;  suffrage,  262-264; 
union,  264;  growth,  265;  on 
Delaware,  296,  311,  315; 
Kieft's  bluster,  312;  trade 
ventures,  315;  migration  con- 
sidered, 315;  bibliography, 
335.  See  also  New  England. 

New  London,  settled,  260; 
jurisdiction,  304. 

New  Netherland,  Argall  in,  72; 
and  Plymouth,  175,  240;  on 
Connecticut,  239-242,  249; 
trade  charter,  292;  boun- 
daries, 292,  313;  English  pro- 
test, 292;  settlement,  293; 
patroonships,  293;  English 
encroachments,  294—296,  10 
-312,  315;  Indian  war,  296, 
311;  New  England  boun- 
dary, 313,  314,  New  Eng- 
land war  threats,  315-317; 
bibliography,  336,  337. 

New  Sweden,  settlement,  296; 
bibliography,  337. 

Newfoundland,  English  voy- 
ages, 7;  fisheries,  7;  Gilbert 
at,  19,  20;  Cal vert's  settle- 
ment, 1 1 8. 

Newport,  Christopher,  con- 
ducts Virginia  colony,  42 ; 
in  council,  49;  seeks  gold 
mine,  50;  visits,  52,  53, 
55-57,  62. 

Newport,  settled,   229. 

Newtown,  restless,  242;  migra- 
tion to  Connecticut,  244, 
246;  settles  Hartford,  247. 

Northwest  passage,  search,  8, 
14, 15;  Gilbert's  pamphlet,  14. 

Norton,  John,  bigotry,  321. 

OLDHAM,  JOHN,  in  Plymouth, 
170;  at  Nantasket  and  Cape 


350 


ENGLAND   IN   AMERICA 


Ann,  170,  171;  and  Massa- 
chusetts Company,  187,  190; 
killed,  252. 

Opechancanough,  massacres, 
85,  107;  captured  and  slain, 
108. 

PARLIAMENT,  trade  charter 
(1566),  14;  sanctions  Ra- 
leigh's charter,  22;  and  Vir- 
ginia, 111-113;  and  Mary- 
land, 143,  145-147;  and 
Massachusetts,  235,  318; 
charter  to  Rhode  Island,  235. 

Patents.     See  Charters,  Grants. 

Patroonships  in  New  Nether- 
land,  293. 

Pemaquid,  settled,  273. 

Pequot  War,  251-257;  killing  of 
Stone,  251,  252;  Massachu- 
setts' expedition,  252;  Nar- 
ragansett  alliance,  253 ;  settle- 
ments attacked,  254;  capture 
of  Indian  fort,  254-256; 
Peqviots  exterminated,  256; 
results,  257. 

Percy,  George,  in  Virginia,  43, 
64,  65. 

Pilgrims,  English  congregation, 
155;  leaders,  155;  flight  to 
Holland,  156;  at  Ley  den,  157, 
158;  decide  to  settle  in  Vir- 
ginia, 158;  James  I.'s  atti- 
tude, 159;  patents,  159; 
financial  arrangement,  159; 
voyage,  160;  land-fall,  160; 
compact ,  1 6 1 ;  settlement , 
161.  See  also  Plymouth. 

Piscataqua.     See  Portsmouth. 

Plymouth,  settlement,  161; 
named,  162;  scurvy,  163; 
and  Indians,  163-165,  177; 
first  summer,  164;  patents, 
164,  172,  178;  first  cargo, 
165;  and  Weston's  settlers, 
166;  trouble  with  partners, 
167,  169;  land  division,  167; 
character  of  immigrants, 
169,  170;  conspiracy,  170; 


Cape  Ann  trouble,  170;  buys 
out  partners,  171;  trading- 
posts,  172;  reunion,  172; 
boundaries,  173;  and  Merry 
Mount,  174;  and  Dutch, 

175,  240;     French    attacks, 

176,  177;    on    Connecticut, 
J77.    239-242,    245;   growth, 
178;   government,    179;   suf- 
frage,  1  80;  code,   1  80;  town 
government,   180;  ministers, 
181;  education,    181;   thrift, 
181;    significance,    182;    and 
Roger    Williams,    217,    218; 
boundary       dispute,        298; 
bibliography,  334.     See  also 
New  England,  Pilgrims. 

Plymouth  Company,  charter, 
36-38;  patrons,  37;  govern- 
ment, 37-39;  attempted  set- 
tlements, 39-4  *  *  I5°\  in- 
active, 149;  Gorges  's  activity, 
151;  reorganized  ,  152.  See 
also  Council  for  New  Eng- 
land. 

Plough  patent,  277;  resisted 
and  arbitrated,  277,  278. 

Pocahontas,  rescues  Smith,  46- 
48;  dance,  48;  seized,  71; 
married,  71;  in  England,  74; 
death,  77. 

Popham,  George,  colony,  40; 
death,  41  ;  fate  of  colony,  41. 

Popham,  Sir  John,  and  Zufiiga, 
36  ;  patron  of  Plymouth  Com- 
pany, 37;  colony,  40;  death, 


Population,     Virginia     (1629), 

93;  (l635)>  I0°;  (l652)>  IJ4; 
Maryland  (1652),  147;  Massa- 
chusetts (1634),  205;  (1643), 
209;  New  England  (1643), 
209,  300;  (1652),  322;  Con- 
necticut (1653),  260. 

Port  Royal,  Argall  reduces,  72, 
149,  289;  settlement,  287;  re- 
built, 289. 

Portsmouth  (Piscataqua)  ,  N  . 
H.,  settled,  175,  267;  feeble 


INDEX 


existence,  268;  Anglicanism, 
268;  civil  contract,  270;  an- 
nexed by  Massachusetts,  271. 

Portsmouth,  R.  T.,  settled,  229. 

Potato,  introduction,  26. 

Pott,  John,  in  Virginia,  93,  94; 
and  Baltimore,  119. 

Poutiincourt  at  Port  R  oy al  ,287. 

Powhatan,  chief  of  confederacy, 
44,  45;  crowned,  56;  and  Vir- 
ginia, 69-71;  death,  85. 

Prado,  de,  voyage,  7. 

Presbyterianism ,  Massachu- 
setts' attitude,  319-321. 

Pring,  Martin,  voyage,  35,  39. 

Providence,  Md.,  founded,  109, 
144. 

Providence,  R.  I.,  settled,  218; 
growth,  230;  and  Gorton, 
232;  union  with  Rhode  Isl- 
and, 235,  237. 

Puritans,  in  Virginia,  106;  in 
Maryland,  109,  144,  145;  rise, 
153;  Separatists,  154-156. 
See  also  New  England  colo- 
nies by  name. 

QUEBEC,  settled,  288;  captured, 

290. 
Quo  warranto  against   Virginia 

Company,  88. 

RALEIGH,  SIR  WALTER,  and 
Gilbert's  plan,  15;  voyage 
with  Gilbert,  16;  appearance, 
21 ;  accomplishments,  21; 
royal  favor,  21;  charter,  22; 
exploring  expedition,  22,  23; 
first  colony,  23-25;  second, 
26,  27;  introduces  potato  and 
tobacco,  26;  third  colony,  27; 
colony  and  Indians,  27,  28, 
32;  and  Armada.  29;  relief 
expeditions,  30;  assigns  trade 
right,  31;  fate  of  colony,  31, 
32;  place  in  history,  32;  fall, 
33;  in  Guinea,  33;  executed, 
33;  monopoly  abrogated,  35; 
search  for  colony,  56. 


Ratcliffe,  John,  in  Virginin, 
43,  40,  57,  63;  president,  51; 
and  Smith,  52,  63;  deposed, 
54;  slain,  65. 

Religion,  influence  on  Spain,  4; 
on  England,  5;  freedom  in 
Maryland,  125,  139,  140,  143, 
144;  persecution  in  Massa- 
chusetts, 191,  201,  211,  237, 
319;  theocracy  in  New  Eng- 
land, 200-202,  258,  262-264; 
freedom  in  Rhode  Island, 
238;  Indian  missions,  302- 
304;  bibliography  on  influ- 
ence. 338.  See  also  sects  by 
name. 

Representation,  Virginia,  79, 
80,  92-94;  and  taxation  in 
Virginia,  90,  96,  113;  James 
I.'s  policy,  91;  Maryland, 
125,  133;  Plymouth,  179; 
Massachusetts,  202,  203;  Con- 
necticut, 250,  258;  New 
Haven,  265;  town  unit,  322. 
See  also  Suffrage. 

Rhode  Island,  Providence  set- 
tled, 218;  island  purchased 
and  settled,  229 ;  body  politic, 
229;  union  of  settlements, 
230,  237,  238;  attitude  of 
Massachusetts,  230,  231,  235- 
238;  parliamentary  charter, 
235;  boundaries,  235;  Gor- 
ton's settlement,  232-235; 
Coddington's  commission, 
237,  238;  Baptists  in,  237; 
religious  freedom,  238;  and 
New  England  Confederation, 
298;  named,  292;  bibliog- 
raphy, 335.  See  also  New 
England. 

Richelieu  and  Canada,  288. 

Roberval,  colony,  285. 

Robinson,  John,  character, 
155;  in  Leyden,  157;  re- 
mains there,  160;  death,  172. 

Rolfe,  John,  marries  Pocahon- 
tas,  72;  plants  tobacco,  75; 
secretary  of  state,  77. 


352 


ENGLAND    IN   AMERICA 


Roxbury,  settled,  198;  emigra- 
tion to  Springfield,  247. 
Russia,  English  voyages,  8. 

SABLE  ISLAND,  attempted  set- 
tlements, 284,  286. 

Saco,  settlement,  273;  and 
Plough  patent,  277;  submits 
to  Massachusetts,  280. 

St.  Croix,  French  settlement 
reduced,  72,  149,  289. 

St.  Mary's,  founded,  127. 

Salem  (Naumkeag),  settled, 
175,  183;  Endicott  at,  186; 
named,  186;  sickness,  186, 
195;  and  Roger  Williams, 
213-217. 

Saltonstall,  Sir  Richard,  agrees 
to  emigrate,  193;  attempted 
settlement.  248. 

Sandys,  Sir  Edwin,  in  London 
Company,  policy,  76,  78; 
treasurer,  81;  enterprise,  82; 
royal  opposition,  82;  and 
Charles  I.,  91. 

Say  and  Sele,  Lord,  grant,  248; 
buys  Dover,  268,  271. 

Saybrook,  founded,  249,  259; 
sold  to  Connecticut,  260. 

Scarborp,  grant  of  site,  274; 
submits  to  Massachusetts, 
281. 

Scrivener,  Matthew,  in  Vir- 
ginia, 54,  57;  death,  57. 

Separatism,  rise,  154;  refuge  in 
Holland,  151-156.  See  also 
Congregationalism,  Pilgrims. 

Servants,  in  Virginia,  100,  115; 
in  Maryland,  128. 

Sheriff,  in  Maryland,  129. 

Ship-building,  New  England, 
322. 

Slave-trade,  English,  8-10. 

Slavery,  introduction,  81 ;  social 
influence,  116,  147. 

Smith,  John,  Virginia  settler, 
43;  career,  43;  rescued  by 
Pocahontas,  46-48;  arrested, 
49;  in  council,  49;  cape 


merchant,  51;  supplies  from 
Indians,  52;  captured,  52; 
condemned  by  Ratcliffe,  52; 
restored,  53;  president,  54; 
answer  to  company's  com- 
plaints, 57;  maps,  57,  150; 
sole  ruler,  57,  63;  avoids 
famine,  58;  deposed,  64; 
leaves,  64;  on  coast  of  New 
England,  150;  attempted  set- 
tlement, 150;  captured  by 
French,  151;  service  to  New 
England,  ^152. 

Smith,  Sir  Thomas,  buys  trade 
right,  31;  in  London  Com- 
pany, 76,  78,  81. 

Social  conditions,  slavery,  81, 
1 16,  147;  servants,  100,  115, 
128;  Virginia  (1634),  101- 
103;  (1648),  no;  houses,  114; 
hospitality,  115;  absence  of 
towns,  115,  129;  Virginia 
education,  116,  117;  Mary- 
land (1652),  147;  New  Eng- 
land criminal  codes,  180, 
203,  326;  influence  of  Cal- 
vinism, 321;  New  England 
towns,  322,  323;  education, 
323  ~  325'.  marriage,  326; 
sumptuary  laws,  326;  general 
characteristics,  326;  litera- 
ture, 327;  bibliography,  338. 

Somers,  Sir  George,  at  Ber- 
mudas, 62;  death,  68. 

Sources,  on  period  1574-1652, 
329-331;  on  Virginia,  331, 
332;  on  Maryland,  333;  on 
Plymouth  and  Massachusetts, 
334;  on  Rhode  Island,  335; 
on  Connecticut  and  New 
Haven,  335;  on  New  Hamp- 
shire and  Maine,  336;  on 
New  Netherland,  336,  337 ;  on 
French  colonies,  337. 

Southampton,  earl  of,  in  Lon- 
don Company,  34,  35,  77, 
82. 

Southampton,  joins  Connecti- 
cut, 259;  settled,  296. 


INDEX 


353 


Southold,  union  with  New 
Haven,  265;  settled,  296. 

Spain,  decay,  3;  influence  of 
colonial  empire,  4;  religious 
influences,  4;  English  rivalry, 
5;  and  Drake's  attacks,  13; 
attacks  Gilbert's  expedition, 
16;  English  war,  28-30,  35; 
Armada,  30;  power  destroy- 
ed, 30;  and  English  colonies, 
36,  60,  74,  283,  284.  See 
also  colonies. 

Springfield,  settled,  247;  and 
river-tolls,  305. 

Standish,  Miles,  Separatist,  in 
Leyden,  158;  exploration, 
161 ;  suppresses  Merry  Mount, 

175- 

Stone,  William,  governor  of 
Maryland,  143,  144;  removed 
and  restored,  147. 

Stuyvesant,  Peter,  and  New 
England  Confederation,  312; 
treaty,  313,  314. 

Suffrage,  Virginia,  116;  Plym- 
outh, 1 80;  Massachusetts, 
202,  210,  211,  243,  319; 
Connecticut,  258;  New 'Ha- 
ven, 262-264;  New  Hamp- 
shire, 271. 

TAXATION  and  representation 
in  Virginia,  90,  96,  113. 

Theocracy  in  New  England, 
200-202,  258,  262-264. 

Thompson,  David,  settlements, 
175,  267. 

Tobacco,  Raleigh  introduces, 
26;  cultivation  begun,  75; 
growth  of  trade,  83 ,  92 ;  duty, 
83,  93;  monopoly,  86,  93; 
fall  in  price,  103;  legislation, 
103;  in  Maryland,  128. 

Towns,  absence  in  Virginia, 
115;  and  in  Maryland,  129; 
government  in  Plvmouth, 
1 80;  unit  in  New  England, 
322;  meeting?,  323;  select- 
men, 323;  business  323. 


Trade,  English,  development 
(1550),  8;  slave-trade,  8-10; 
direction  under  Mary,  9; 
Hawkins's  voyages,  9; 
tobacco,  83,  86,  92,  103; 
Virginia,  100,  103;  fur,  168, 
286,  287,  291,  293;  New 
England,  322. 

Travel,  New  England  condi- 
tions (1652),  322. 

Treaties,  St.  Germain  (1632), 
290;  Hartford  (1650),  314. 

T  wilier,  Wouter  van,  and  claim 
to  Connecticut,  242 ;  govern- 
or of  New  Netherland,  293; 
and  Eelkens,  294;  recalled, 
296. 

UNCAS,  captures  and  slays 
Miantonomoh,  233;  policy, 
240,  302. 

Underbill,  John,  at  Dover, 
269;  and  Dutch,  269. 

Union,  Rhode  Island,  230,  237; 
Connecticut,  250;  New 
Haven,  264;  New  Hampshire, 
270,  272;  Maine,  278.  See 
also  New  England  Confedera- 
tion. 

VANE,  SIR  HARRY,  governor  of 
Massachusetts,  200;  and  An- 
tinomian  controversy,  220- 
223;  defeated,  224;  returns 
to  England,  225. 

Verrazzano,  John,  voyage,  284. 

Virginia,  Raleigh's  charter,  22; 
exploring  expedition,  22,  23; 
named,  23;  Raleigh's  at- 
tempted settlement,  23-28, 
31,  32;  charter,  36-38;  and 
Spain,  36,  60,  74,  283; 
boundaries,  37;  regulations 
for  settlement,  42;  settlers, 
42;  topography,  43;  Indians, 
44-49;  voyage,  49;  quarrel, 
49;  first  officers,  49;  relation 
with  Indians,  49,  51,  68,  71; 
Jamestown  founded,  50;  suf- 


354 


ENGLAND    IN    AMERICA 


fering  and  dissensions,  50- 
54,  58,  63-66,  69,  74,  84; 
search  for  gold,  51,  53,  56, 
69;  Smith's  enterprise,  51, 
52,  54;  First  Supply,  52; 
cargoes,  53,  54,  57;  Second 
Supply,  55;  first  marriage 
and  birth,  55;  company's 
instructions  (1608),  55;  Pow- 
hatan  crowned,  56;  search 
for  Raleigh's  colony,  56; 
answer  to  company,  57; 
map,  57;  Argall's  relief,  59, 
63;  new  charter,  59-61;  gen- 
tlemen settlers,  causes  of 
calamities,  59;  communism, 
59;  absolute  governor,  61; 
Third  Supply,  61-63;  Starv- 
ing Time,  66;  abandonment 
decided  upon,  67 ;  Delaware's 
timely  arrival,  67,  68;  his 
administration,  68-70;  depu- 
ty governors,  70;  Dale's 
rule,  70-74;  expeditions 
against  Acadia,  72;  com- 
munism abolished,  73;  in 
1616,  74;  tobacco  planting 
begins,  75;  third  charter, 
76;  company's  policy,  76; 
Argall's  tyranny,  77,  78; 
land  division,  77,  79;  charter 
of  privileges,  78;  Yardley 
governor,  78,  79;  in  1619,  78; 
private  associations,  79;  rep- 
resentation, 79,  92-94,  123; 
church  of  England,  80,  106; 
first  assembly,  80;  first  negro 
slaves,  81;  cargo  of  maidens, 
81;  tobacco  trade  and  reg- 
ulation, 83,  86,  92,  103; 
prosperity,  84,  102;  first 
massacre,  85;  commission  to 
investigate,  87;  charter  void- 
ed, 88;  loyalty  to  company, 
89;  taxation  and  representa- 
tion, 90,  96,  113;  royal  con- 
trol, 90,  91,  95,  96;  policy  of 
James  I.,  91;  population 
(1629),  93;  (1635),  100; 


(1652),  114;  Harvey's  rule, 
93,  96;  deposed  and  rein- 
stated, 97-99,  136;  northern 
expansion,  94;  and  Maryland 
charter,  96,  120-123;  Wyatt 
governor,  99,  104;  servants, 
100,  115;  trade  (1635),  100; 
settlements  (1634),  101,  102; 
(1652),  113,  114;  continued 
mortality,  102,  104;  corn 
trade,  103;  parliamentary 
charter,  105;  Berkeley  gov- 
ernor, 105;  petition  against 
charter,  105;  loyalty  to  king, 
105.  in;  Puritans,  106,  108, 
109;  second  massacre,  107; 
peace,  108;  cavalier  immigra- 
tion, 109,  ii  i ;  improved 
ministry,  no;  in  1648,  no; 
and  parliamentary  commis- 
sion, 111-113;  control  by 
burgesses,  113;  houses,  114; 
hospitality,  115;  absence  of 
towns,  115;  democracy,  1 1 6 ; 
influence  of  slavery,  1 16 ;  edu- 
cation, 116,  117;  and  Bal- 
timore, 119;  origin  of  laws, 
123;  claim  to  Kent  Island, 
134-138;  and  Dutch  on  Dela- 
ware, 294;  bibliography,  331. 
See  also  London  Company. 
Voyages,  Cabot  (1497,  J49^). 
6;  Prado  (1527),  7;  Hore 
0535).  7  J  Willoughby  (1553), 
8;  English,  to  Russia,  8; 
Drake  (1577-1580),  12;  Cav- 
endish (1586),  13;  Frobisher 
(1576-1578),  14;  Davis  (1585 
-1587),  15;  Barlow  and 
Amidas  (1584),  22,  23;  Denys 
(1506),  284;  Aubert  (1508), 
284;  Verrazzano  (1524),  284; 
Cartier  (1534-1536),  284; 
Alefonse  (1542),  285;  Hudson 
(1609),  291;  bibliography, 
329.  33°- 

WALKER,  JOHN,  voyage,  17. 
Wars,  Spanish-English   (1588), 


INDEX 


355 


28-30,    35;    Pequot    (1637),! 
251  -  257;    English  -  French  \ 
(1627),    289,    290;    English- 
Dutch  (1652),  315. 
Warwick,    earl    of,   in   London 
Company,  76,  81;  grant,  185,  ; 

239- 

Warwick  settled,  230,  233-235.  ; 

Watertown,  settled,  198;  rest-  ; 
less,  242;  migration 'to  Con- j 
necticut,  245,  246;  settles: 
Wethersfield,  246. 

Welles,  founded,  272;  submits 
to  Massachusetts,  280. 

West,  Francis,  in  Virginia,  55, 
92;  and  fishermen,  168. 

West  Indies,  Spain  and  Eng- 
land in,  284. 

Wethersfield,  settled,  247,  Ind- 
ian attack,  254. 

Wey  mouth,     George,     voyage, 

35- 

Weymouth  (Wessagusset) ,  set- 
tlement, 166,  168. 

Wheelwright,  John,  and  Antino- 
mianism,  220-224;  banished, 
2  26;  at  Dover,  269;  settles  Ex- 
eter, 269;  founds  Welles,  272; 
return  to  Massachusetts,  272. 

White,  Andrew,  Jesuit,  in  Mary- 
land, 126;  sent  to  England, 
141. 

White,  John,  water-colors,  26; 
governor  of  Raleigh's  colony, 
27,  28;  attempted  relief,  31. 

White,  Rev.  John,  and  Salem 
settlement,"  183;  pamphlet, 
194. 

Williams,  Roger,  in  Massa- 
chusetts, 212;  harsh  creed, 
213;  objections,  2 1 3 ;  in  Plym-  i 


outh,  213,  217,  218;  and 
Indians,  213,  217,  251,  253; 
on  land  titles,  214;  trial,  214, 
215;  objection  to  oaths,  215; 
and  Salem,  216;  banished, 
216,  217;  flight,  217;  settles 
Providence,  218;  secures  pat- 
ent. 235;  triumphal  return, 
236;  Baptist,  237;  thwarts 
Coddington,  238. 

Willoughby,  Sir  Hugh,  voyage, 
8. 

Wilson,  John,  Congregational- 
ist,  196;  sermons,  218;  and 
Antinomianism,  220,  223. 

Windsor,  Plymouth  fort,  242; 
Dorchester  settlers,  245-247. 

Wingfield,  E.  M.,  in  Virginia, 
43,  49,  51,  53,  54. 

Winslow,  Edward,  Separatist, 
in  Ley  den,  158;  agent  in 
England,  206,  279. 

Winthrop,  John,  agrees  to 
emigrate,  193;  governor,  193, 
224;  Congregationalist,  196; 
and  Antinomian  controversy, 
220-228;  character,  death, 
243,  321;  and  La  Tour,  307. 

Winthrop,  John  (2),  theoretic 
governor,  249;  settles  New 
London,  260. 

Wyatt,  Sir  Francis,  governor 
of  Virginia,  85,  90,  92,  99; 
commissioner,  95. 

YARDLEY,  SIR  GEORGE,  gov- 
ernor of  Virginia,  70,  75,  78, 
92;  death,  92. 

York  (Agamenticus,  Gorgeana), 
government,  275,  276;  sub- 
mits to  Massachusetts,  280. 


END    OF    VOL.   IV. 


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